Exploring indirect impacts of COVID-19 on local health systems from the perspectives of health workers and higher education stakeholders in the Philippines using a phenomenological approach.

Background: Our study aimed to explore the experiences of stakeholders from local government units, health facilities and higher education institutions on the delivery of non-COVID-19 health services after the initial wave of the pandemic. Methods: Twenty-nine public health workers, thirteen university staff, and four hospital administrators in the Philippines participated. Using a descriptive phenomenological approach, we analysed transcripts from six focus group discussions conducted online between March and June 2021. Findings: The COVID-19 pandemic made the routine health programs inaccessible due to hesitancy among patients to visit health facilities, a shift in public health priorities, and lack of students to augment the existing workforce.Public health workers reported stress and mental health exhaustion. Apart from fear of infection during service provision, public health workers and university staff experienced work overload, pressure to learn new technology, and webinar fatigue. Mental health problems have surfaced as health workers and young people have become more affected while support services remain insufficient.Public health workers have reported actions to maintain service delivery in the new normal such as use of telehealth and social media. However, issues on workforce wellbeing and digital equity posed adaptation challenges. Participants suggested partnership with higher education institutions as pivotal to position local health systems towards recovery. Interpretation: The rapid change in the service landscape highlights the importance of sustainable partnerships, effective workforce management, equitable digital innovations, and promoting mental wellbeing to preserve community, school, and occupational health and rebuild resilient local health systems in low-resourced areas. Funding: This research is proudly supported by the Australia-ASEAN Council, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Death and dying during COVID-19: The role of health care workers.

A correspondence to an article published in this journal showed that anticipatory grieving and loss during the Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic ultimately affects the lives of the family of the bereaved. Advocacy of the health care workers to the patient and their loved ones is necessary. This is where the role of health care workers appears to be important as they, in a sense, serve as a bridge to the dying patient and the grieving family.

The role of religiosity in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

With the surge of COVID-19 cases worldwide, it is essential that vaccination be prioritized to facilitate herd immunity. However, there is vaccine hesitancy reflected in religiosity. This correspondence aims to understand religiosity as a factor that plays a role in vaccination hesitancy. Medical and scientifically sound evidence is influenced by religious beliefs resulting in varied responses toward getting vaccinated such as vaccination hesitancy.

Anticipatory grieving and loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent correspondence shows that death and burial practices deem significant in understanding the meaning and acceptance of the untimely and unexpected death of a family member afflicted with the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. These, in turn, raise the need to address the anticipatory grieving process of the family. This paper examines the importance of anticipatory grieving that ultimately affects the lives of the family of the bereaved.

The truth must prevail: citizens' rights to know the truth during the era of COVID-19.

In a recent short report, the necessity of sophisticated practices in gathering records that would facilitate data sharing yields data-driven analysis in time of COVID-19. Consequently, there is a need to present the truth in data analytics in the era of COVID-19. This paper discusses the urgent call for people handling the COVID-19 data to be ethically responsible in their handling, processing, and reporting that impacts the lives of ordinary people especially in this time of pandemic as public health crisis.