Coping Strategies and Livelihood Sustainability for Rural Women in the Face of COVID-19: The Case of Mutoko District, Zimbabwe

This paper examines the coping mechanisms, levels of livelihood sustainability and diversification for rural farmers in Mutoko district, an area in Mashonaland East province, about 148 km from Harare. Despite the rural farmers being well known for being the best fruit and vegetable suppliers to Harare (tomatoes and mangoes), the farmers appear to remain subsistence, living from hand to mouth because of the nature of their farming practices. The normal operations of the farmers were interrupted by the COVID-19 movement restrictions effected by the Zimbabwean Government from March 2020, since their main livelihoods depend on daily or weekly trips to Harare's Mbare Musika to sell fresh fruits and vegetables. The study interviewed 10 women purposively selected, and an additional 20 respondents who participated in 5 focus groups comprising of 4 people each. The respondents indicated that they had challenges during COVID-19 movement restrictions in 2020 and 2021, and these included loss of revenue, reduction in production, lack of storage and preservation strategies for their agricultural produce and inability to provide family needs like online lessons for school children among other things. The paper recommends that processing plants be installed in the district and rural industrialisation be intensified to enable other sources of income, besides agricultural activities. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Recent Urban Issues Related to Particulate Matter in Ploiesti City, Romania

The present work aimed to assess the ambient levels of air pollution with particulate matter for both mass concentrations and number of particles for various fractions in Ploiesti city during the lockdown period determined by the COVID-19 pandemic (March–June 2020). The PM10 continuously monitored data was retrieved from four air quality automatic stations that are connected to the Romanian National Network for Monitoring Air Quality and located in the city. Because no other information was available for other more dangerous fractions, we used monitoring campaigns employing the Lighthouse 3016 IAQ particle counter near the locations of monitoring stations assessing size-segregated mass fraction concentrations (PM0.5, PM1, PM2.5, PM5, PM10, and TPM) and particle number concentration (differential Δ) range between 0.3 and 10 microns during the specified timeline between 8.00 and 11.00 a.m., which were considered the morning rush hours interval. Interpolation maps estimating the spatial distribution of the mass concentrations of various PM fractions and particle number concentration were drawn using the IDW algorithm in ArcGIS 10.8.2. Regarding the particle count of 0.5 microns during the lockdown, the smallest number was recorded when the restriction of citizens' movement was declared (24 March 2020), which was 5.8-times lower (17,301.3 particles/cm3) compared to a common day outside the lockdown period (100,047.3 particles/cm3). Similar results were observed for other particle sizes. Regarding the spatial distribution of the mass concentrations, the smaller fractions were higher in the middle of the city and west (PM0.5, PM1, and PM2.5) while the PM10 was more concentrated in the west. These are strongly related to traffic patterns. The analysis is useful to establish the impact of PM and the assessment of urban exposure and better air quality planning. Long-term exposure to PM in conjunction with other dangerous air pollutants in urban aerosols of Ploiesti can lead to potential adverse effects on the population, especially for residents located in the most impacted areas.

Out of sight, out of mind: The impact of lockdown measures on sentiment towards refugees

How did COVID-19 related movement restrictions impact sentiment toward refugees? Existing theories offer conflicting answers. On the one hand, contact theories suggest that movement restrictions might reduce casual interactions with refugees, leading to less negative sentiments. On the other hand, integrated threat theories suggest refugees may be perceived as a security threat and blamed for these movement restrictions in the first place. To gauge the effect of movement restrictions, we investigate the effect of physical isolation on sentiments toward refugees in Turkey by using a novel dataset. We use Google Mobility Reports' measurements of movement and our measures of sentiments toward refugees using refugee-related tweets from Turkey. Statistical analysis shows that xenophobic sentiment generally decreased during the pandemic. Our study shows that different types of reduced mobility correlate with increased sympathy toward refugees: the more people stay at home, the more positive sentiments toward refugees they exhibit on Twitter. We conclude by proposing two possible causal mechanisms for these findings. The findings suggest that the absence of casual contact with refugees may yield less negative sentiment, and/or that a rally around the flag mechanism yields unprecedented levels of social solidarity in response to the pandemic. © 2023 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

"Boiling Water but There's No Pop-Off Valve": Health Care Provider Perceptions of the Effects of COVID-19 on Intimate Partner Violence.

This study sought to understand the effects of COVID-19, including movement-related restrictions such as shelter-in-place, quarantine, and isolation orders, on intimate partner violence (IPV) from the perspective of health care providers (HCPs) working at a public hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. From November 2020 to May 2021, we conducted 12 interviews. Three themes emerged: (1) HCPs perceived that COVID-19 movement-related restrictions likely exacerbated IPV; (2) HCPs encountered many practice-oriented and community barriers in IPV care provision during COVID-19; and (3) HCPs suggested process and partnership improvements for IPV response. These findings can inform future pandemic preparedness including improved communication, improved IPV screening and follow-up, and strengthened hospital-community partnerships.

Movement restrictions, vaccine coverage, and reduction of the COVID-19 incidence rate in the fourth wave of the pandemic: Analysis results from 63 provinces in Vietnam.

On April 27, 2021, the fourth wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic originating from the Delta variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began in Vietnam. The adoption of travel restrictions, coupled with rapid vaccination and mask-wearing, is a global strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Although trade-off between health and economic development are unavoidable in this situation, little evidence that is specific to Vietnam in terms of movement restrictions, vaccine coverage, and real-time COVID-19 cases is available. Our research question is whether travel restrictions and vaccine coverage are related to changes in the incidence of COVID-19 in each province in Vietnam. We used Google's Global Mobility Data Source, which reports different mobility types, along with reports of vaccine coverage and COVID-19 cases retrieved from publicly and freely available datasets, for this research. Starting from the 50th case per province and incorporating a 14-day period to account for exposure and illness, we examined the association between changes in mobility (from day 27 to 04-03/11/2021) and the ratio of the number of new confirmed cases on a given day to the total number of cases in the past 14 days of indexing (the potentially contagious group in the population) per million population by making use of LOESS regression and logit regression. In two-thirds of the surveyed provinces, a reduction of up to 40% in commuting movement (to the workplace, transit stations, grocery stores, and entertainment venues) was related to a reduction in the number of cases, especially in the early stages of the pandemic. Once both movement and disease prevalence had been mitigated, further restrictions offered little additional benefit. These results indicate the importance of early and decisive actions during the pandemic.

"COVID gave him an opportunity to tighten the reins around my throat": perceptions of COVID-19 movement restrictions among survivors of intimate partner violence.

BACKGROUND: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) poses a serious public health threat globally and within the United States. Preliminary evidence highlighted surges in IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic offers a unique context, with many states and countries enacting movement-restrictions (i.e., shelter-in-place orders) that exacerbated IPV. Although these movement restrictions and other infection control methods (i.e., isolation, quarantine orders) have proven successful in reducing the spread of COVID-19, their impacts on IPV have not been thoroughly investigated. Specifically, public health measures restricting movement reinforce and socially legitimize isolation and coercive control tactics enacted by perpetrators of abuse. The purpose of this study was to understand the impacts of COVID-19, including the impacts of movement restrictions (i.e., shelter in place orders, quarantine, isolation orders) on experiences of IPV from the perspective of survivors. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with ten survivors who presented at a large, public hospital or sought community IPV resources (i.e., domestic violence shelter, therapy services) in Atlanta, Georgia between March and December 2020. Thematic analysis was carried out to describe the impact of COVID-19 movement restrictions on IPV and help-seeking behaviors among survivors, in addition to identifying resources to improve IPV response during pandemics. RESULTS: Through discussion of their experiences, survivors indicated how movement restrictions, social distancing measures, and the repercussions of the pandemic influenced their relationship challenges, including the occurrence of new or a higher frequency and/or severity of IPV episodes. Survivors cited relationship challenges that were amplified by either movement restrictions or consequences of COVID-19, including reinforced control tactics, and increased financial or life stressors resulting from the pandemic. COVID-19 movement restrictions catalyzed new relationships quickly and sparked new or intensified violence in existing relationships, revealing gaps in IPV support services. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest COVID-19 movement restrictions and social distancing measures amplify IPV and experiences of trauma due to new or exacerbated relationship challenges. Further, results highlight how partners cited COVID-19 movement restrictions to justify methods of coercive control. Public health professionals engaged in pandemic preparedness must give serious consideration to how social distancing measures may amplify trauma in those experiencing IPV.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the proportion of physically active children and adults worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Safety measures implemented to address the COVID-19 pandemic have had a profound impact on the mobility of people worldwide We synthesized the global evidence on physical activity (PA) participation before and during the pandemic. Methods: We conducted a systematic review, searching PubMed, Embase, WHO Global literature on coronavirus disease (between January 2020 and April 2022), and reference lists. Meta-analysis and meta-regression were conducted to quantitatively synthesize the data. Results and discussion: Sixty-three primary studies were included. In children, the global pooled prevalence of PA was 46.4% before the pandemic, 40.6% during the pandemic before movement restriction (MR), and 19.5% during MR. A statistically significant decrease in prevalence was observed between the period before the pandemic and the period during which MR was implemented (p < 0.001). In adults, the global pooled prevalence (both sexes) decreased between the periods before the pandemic (64.7%) and during MR (57.0%). During the period of COVID-19 MR, children had significantly lower odds to meet the WHO PA recommendation than adults (19.5%, 95%CI: 15.8-23.8% vs. 57.0%, 95%CI: 43.3-62.5%; OR = 0.21; p ≤ 0.001). Patient populations were less active than the general population, and their PA levels decreased during the pandemic. Mental and physical health benefits of PA have been well-demonstrated. Prioritizing PA in health campaigns and strategies is critical to address health issues exacerbated during this pandemic. Protocol registration: doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/GVABX.

COVID-19 Outbreak Restrictions on Daily Activities and Its Psychological Impact on Elderly: A Scoping Review

Following the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, restrictions imposed to curb the virus spread may affect the elderly population. Therefore, a scoping review was conducted to map the daily activities restrictions and the psychological impacts on the elderly. Articles from five databases, including Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, and Google Scholar were retrieved that used “disease outbreaks” or “infectious disease outbreaks” and “elderly” or “older adult” or “geriatric” or “old age”, which provide relevant insight on the restrictions and psychological impacts on the elderly, published throughout this COVID-19 pandemic until July 2021. Twenty-one eligible articles were included and summarised using thematic analysis. Restrictions throughout the pandemic may, directly and indirectly, impact the elderly’s psychological wellbeing and vary according to their age, gender, previous history of mental illness, comorbidities, and social support. Therefore, the strength of association between each variable should be identified to facilitate healthcare providers in managing the impact of COVID-19 on the elderly population. © 2022 UPM Press. All rights reserved.

Dengue Incidence and Aedes Vector Collections in Relation to COVID-19 Population Mobility Restrictions.

Contrary to expectation, dengue incidence decreased in many countries during the period when stringent population movement restrictions were imposed to combat COVID-19. Using a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average model, we previously reported a 74% reduction in the predicted number of dengue cases from March 2020 to April 2021 in the whole of Sri Lanka, with reductions occurring in all 25 districts in the country. The reduction in dengue incidence was accompanied by an 87% reduction in larval collections of Aedes vectors in the northern city of Jaffna. It was proposed that movement restrictions led to reduced human contact and blood feeding by Aedes vectors, accompanied by decreased oviposition and vector densities, which were responsible for diminished dengue transmission. These findings are extended in the present study by investigating the relationship between dengue incidence, population movement restrictions, and vector larval collections between May 2021 and July 2022, when movement restrictions began to be lifted, with their complete removal in November 2021. The new findings further support our previous proposal that population movement restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced dengue transmission primarily by influencing human-Aedes vector interaction dynamics.

Green Pass versus Health Faiths. To travel in confidence with public health

The Green Pass (EU Digital Covid Certificate) was reconfirmed on June 13th 2022 by the European Parliament as an indispensable tool for coordinating travel safety in Europe. The subject is still debated today, although similar regulations have existed in the Old World since the 15th century. In this letter, i want to briefly recall the means used in the past to regulate the movement of people in different countries, means not different from those used today © 2022, Medicina Historica.All Rights Reserved.

Use and design of public green spaces in Serbian cities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since December 2019, the global community has been challenged by managing the COVID-19 health crisis. Some governments have restricted the use of public green spaces (PGS), as part of measures for limiting the spread of the virus. Although many scholars studied the changing perception of using PGS during the pandemic, the extent to which the planning and design of new PGS recognize new realities and lessons learned from the ongoing pandemic including requirements for social distancing is less illuminated. Against this background, this article seeks to assess the intersection between the institutional responsibility in planning, designing and managing PSG, and the corresponding perception by PGS users in the two Serbian cities Belgrade and Novi Sad during the ongoing pandemic. Therefore, the paper surveyed 400 respondents about their perception of introduced measures and physical settings of PGS including their specific suggestions concerning which features, if included, would help them remain vigilant during a pandemic. The findings suggest that people have very clear and diverse ideas about the planning, design and management of PGS during a health crisis adapted to their individual needs but also beneficial to the whole local community. In reviewing public green space design competition calls and results published from 2019 to 2021, this study finds that the global lessons learned about the use of public green spaces during the pandemic were not considered by local governments and professionals in Serbia when planning and designing them. In addition, residents are less likely to request changing ways of implementing, designing or managing PGS from their local government. These two aspects are striking in successfully shaping and managing PGS as a crucial resource in cities and communities bouncing back after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Efficacy of Government Responses to COVID-19 in Mediterranean Countries.

OBJECTIVE: This article aims to provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of the governments' policy measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Mediterranean countries. METHODS: We considered five categories of response: lockdowns, social distancing, movement restrictions, public health measures, and governance and socio-economic measures. Our main research question is, How long do these measures take to become effective? Our analysis, by longitudinal regressions and panel count data analyses, focuses on one region-the Mediterranean countries-to avoid differences, such as cultural factors, that may influence the evolution of the viral pandemic. We start by investigating heteroscedasticity, and both serial and contemporaneous correlation of the disturbance term across cross-sectional countries. RESULTS: Our different estimation methods paint very similar trajectories of the efficacy of governments' response measures. The benefits of these measures increase exponentially with time. We find that the net effects can be divided into three phases. In the first week, the benefits are not guaranteed unless the total number of contamination cases is less than some threshold values, ie if the spread of the virus is not already advanced. Then, indirect effects are revealed. After three weeks, we observe a reduction in the number of the new confirmed viral cases and, thus, the direct net benefits are observed. CONCLUSION: The earlier governments act, in relation to the evolution of the epidemic, the lower the total cumulative incidence due to the epidemic wave.