Online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic - perspectives of adolescents and young adults

ObjectiveTo assess perspectives of online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic among youth, rural residents, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. DesignOpen-ended text message survey data. Survey questions assessed rates of use and perspectives of online grocery shopping among youth and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative analysis of survey data from 875 participants (response rate=76.4%) to identify themes in experience with multivariable logistic regression to test associations between online grocery shopping (pickup, delivery, or either) with rurality and SNAP participation. SettingUnited States ParticipantsNationwide text-messaging poll of youth (14-24 years-old) recruited to meet benchmarks based on the American Community Survey. ResultsDuring the pandemic online grocery shopping was used frequently (46.7%). Safety and convenience were the primary reasons for preferring a shopping mode (in-person or online). Most online shoppers had positive experiences (59.4%), primarily due to convenience; negative experiences (28.3%) were from inaccuracies, inconveniences of the process, and delivery costs. Rural and suburban residence was associated with higher pickup (OR 2.02 and 1.51, respectively, p=.03) and lower delivery use (OR 0.33 and 0.72, respectively, p=.003) compared to urban residence. SNAP participation was not associated with any type of online grocery shopping. ConclusionsOnline grocery shopping is common among youth and their families regardless of rurality or SNAP participation, but there are several youth-identified areas for improvement. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=98 SRC="FIGDIR/small/22277101v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (28K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1deebb7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@456b86org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19656a9org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@113a660_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

The Utility of rRT-PCR in Diagnosis and Assessment of Case-fatality rates of COVID-19 In the Iranian Population. Positive Test Results are a Marker for Illness Severity

The utility of PCR-based testing in characterizing patients with COVID-19 and the severity of their disease remains unknown. We performed an observational study among patients presenting to hospitals in Iran who were tested for 2019-nCoV viral RNA by rRT-PCR between the fourth week of February 2020 to the fourth week of March 2020. Frequency of symptoms, comorbidities, intubation, and mortality rates were compared between COVID-19 positive vs. negative patients. 96103 patients were tested from 879 hospitals. 18754 (19.5%) tested positive for COVID-19. Positive testing was more frequent in those 50 years or older. The prevalence of cough (54.5% vs. 49.7%), fever (49.5% vs. 44.7%), and respiratory distress (43.0% vs. 39.0%) but not hypoxia (46.9% vs. 56.7%) was higher in COVID-19 positive vs. negative patients (p<0.001 for all). More patients had cardiovascular diseases (10.6% vs. 9.5%, p<0.001) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (10.8% vs. 8.7%, p<0.001) among COVID-19 positive vs. negative patients. There were fewer patients with cancer (1.1%, vs. 1.4%, p<0.001), asthma (1.9% vs. 2.5%, p<0.001), or pregnant (0.4% vs. 0.6%, =0.001) in COVID-19 positive vs. negative groups. COVID-19 positive vs. negative patients required more intubation (7.7% vs. 5.2%, p<0.001) and had higher mortality (14.6% vs. 6.3%, p<0.001). Odds ratios for death of positive vs negative patients range from 2.01 to 3.10 across all age groups. In conclusion, COVID-19 test-positive vs. test-negative patients had more severe symptoms and comorbidities, required higher intubation, and had higher mortality. rRT-PCR positive result provided diagnosis and a marker of disease severity in Iranians.