COVID-19 affects psychological symptoms of pregnant women indirectly by increasing their maternal concerns.

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women themselves are at higher risk for psychological symptoms. The impact of ongoing COVID-19 may increase the risk. However, it is uncertain whether COVID-19 affects pregnant women's psychological symptoms directly or indirectly being mediated. METHODS: This survey was conducted in four obstetrics and gynecology hospitals in Beijing from February 28, 2020, to April 26, 2020. Pregnant women who visited the antenatal-care clinic were mobilized to finish the online questionnaires, including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Connor-Davidson resilience scale, and Insomnia Severity Index. RESULTS: A total of 828 pregnant women were included in the analysis. The estimated self-reported rates of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and any of the three were 12.2 %, 24.3 %, 13.3 %, and 33.1 %, respectively. Mediating effect analysis showed that pregnant women's response to COVID-19 was not directly associated with psychological symptoms but indirectly through the mediating effect of maternal concerns, which accounted for 32.35 % of the total effect. Stratified analysis by psychological resilience showed that women's attitude toward COVID-19 (OR, 2.68, 95 % CI: 1.16-6.18) was associated with a higher risk of psychological symptoms in those with poor psychological resilience. LIMITATIONS: The study was a non-probability sampling survey, and the causal relationship between maternal concerns and psychological symptoms could not be determined due to the study's design. CONCLUSIONS: Under public health emergencies such as COVID-19, routine antenatal care should still be prioritized, and concerns related to childbirth-related caused by such emergencies should also be addressed, especially for those with weak psychological resilience.

Filtration performances of non-medical materials as candidates for manufacturing facemasks and respirators.

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is causing a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in different countries around the world. Because the coronavirus can transmit through droplets and aerosols, facemasks and N95 respirators that require complex certification, are urgently needed. Given the situation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that "in settings where facemasks are not available, healthcare personnel might use homemade masks (e.g., bandana, scarf) for the care of patients with COVID-19 as a last resort." Although aerosols and droplets can be removed through the fibers of fabrics through a series of filtration mechanisms, their filtration performances have not been evaluated in detail. Moreover, there are a series of non-medical materials available on the market, such as household air filters, coffee filters, and different types of fabrics, which may be useful when facemasks and respirators are not available. In this study, we comprehensively evaluated the overall and size-dependent filtration performances of non-medical materials. The experiments were conducted under different face velocities to study its influence on size-dependent filtration performances. The flow resistance across these filter materials is measured as an indicator of the breathability of the materials. The results illustrate that multiple layers of household air filters are able to achieve similar filtration efficiencies compared to the N95 material without causing a significant increase in flow resistance. Considering that these air filters may shed micrometer fibers during the cutting and folding processes, it is recommended that these filters should be inserted in multiple layers of fabrics when manufacturing facemasks or respirators.