COVID-19 Preparedness Research Articles

Preparedness toward COVID-19 pandemics and associated factors among health care workers in Dire Dawa Hospitals, Eastern Ethiopia: A facility-based cross-sectional study

Introduction:Health care workers are at the frontline of the response against the COVID-19 outbreak. Poor preparedness and infection prevention practices among health care workers compound the hazard and occurrence of COVID-19 hospital transmission. Thus, the study aimed to assess preparedness toward COVID-19 pandemics and associated factors among health care workers in Hospitals of Eastern Ethiopia.Methods:Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 20 June to July 10 2020. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 423 health care workers. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS Version 23. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was conducted to identify factors associated with the outcome variable, and statistical significance was declared at a p-value less than 0.05.Results:This study revealed that the proportion of health care workers’ preparedness toward the COVID-19 pandemic was 40.9% (95% CI: 36.2–45.9). Working in a public hospital (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.6–4.3), being unafraid of transmitting COVID-19 to patients (Adjusted odds ratio/AOR = 4.6, 95% CI: 2.2–10.0), feeling safe at the workplace (AOR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.7–6.4)), satisfied with the infection control policy (AOR = 6.0, 95% CI: 2.3–15.0), and not feeling anxious about the likelihood of COVID-19 spread (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.3–3.4) were significantly associated with COVID-19 preparedness.Conclusion:The majority of the health care workers were not prepared for COVID-19 pandemics. Feeling safe at the workplace scared of transmitting COVID-19 to patients, satisfied with the infection control policy, and feeling anxious concerning the likelihood of COVID-19 were factors associated with health care workers’ preparedness to COVID-19. The current awareness creation training, including motivational and psychological preparation for all health care workers, is mandatory, regardless of their profession or working place.

COVID-19 preparedness and response plan for the dental laboratory workplace in armed forces

Introduction: The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia SARS-CoV-2 has necessitated the reinforcement of infection control measures in the dental clinic and prosthetic laboratory setting. These precautions are mandatory to cease any transmission of COVID-19 to the clientele or dental health care workers. Risk assessment is conducted for all steps of dental laboratory processes of prosthesis fabrication viz. preprocessing, processing and postprocessing. Standard precautions must be followed at all times when laboratory staff handles clinical impressions or appliances at various clinical and laboratory stages which may contain infectious microorganisms. Standard precautions must include social distancing and hand hygiene along with the use of personal protective equipment. In the preprocessing phase, all impressions, models and prosthesis should be handled as per Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines. They are collected in appropriate containers and are decontaminated by appropriate disinfectant before transporting them for fabrication. There should be the minimal formation of aerosols ensured while undertaking all technical procedures of processing. Adequate decontamination of all the prostheses should be carried out using 1% sodium hypochlorite in the post-processing phase. About 65%–70% ethanol or hydrogen peroxide (0.5%) is used for surface disinfection. All biomedical waste generated should be disposed as per state and national guidelines. Conclusion: The dental prosthetic laboratory biosafety measures are important to minimize the risk of laboratory transmission of COVID-19 to health-care workers.

Covid-19 Preparedness and Response Capability: A Case Study of the Hanoi Primary Healthcare System.

This study examined the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) preparedness and response of the health system (HS) in Hanoi, Vietnam, and identified enabling factors and barriers. This cross-sectional, mixed-methods study was conducted in 4 urban and peri-urban districts that included some wards with COVID-19-positive cases and some without. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analytical frameworks were used. Overall, 10% of health facilities (HFs) failed to fully implement COVID-19 risk determination; 8.8% failed to fully implement stronger community partnerships with local stakeholders to support public health (PH) preparedness; 35% and 2.5% incompletely implemented and did not implement evaluation of PH emergency operations, respectively; 10% did not identify communication channels to issue public information, alerts, warnings, and notifications; 25% incompletely implemented identification, development of guidance, and standards for information; 72.5% had good preventive and treatment collaboration; and 10% did not fully implement procedures for laboratory testing and reporting results. Enablers included sufficient infrastructure and equipment, strong leadership, and good cross-public-sector collaboration with police and military forces. Barriers included workforce constraints, overburdened and inconsistent reporting systems, inappropriate financial mechanisms, ambiguous health governance, and lack of private-sector engagement. Nonetheless, the HS preparedness and response were satisfactory, although further coordinated efforts in evaluation, coordination, communication, and volunteering remain necessary.

Risk-mitigation measures in a tertiary care psychiatric hospital during COVID-19 pandemic

Risk-mitigation measures in a tertiary care psychiatric hospital during COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 in Bangladeshi Daily Newspapers: A Thematic Analysis of Media Coverage

This study aims to identify the different news content of COVID-19 coverage in the major national dailies of Bangladesh during the pre-lockdown to the end of the lockdown period. Along with quantifying the total COVID-19 coverage in newspapers, it has compared the prominence given to COVID-19 news coverage in different pages of the newspapers studied. By following content analysis, descriptive statistics has been used in this study for discussion and presentation. The study revealed that the news coverage started to grow with the announcement of the pandemic and declined gradually after the end of the lockdown in Bangladesh. The result also ascertains that COVID-19 related news was featured on different pages during the first five-months between January and May, and the percentage of news coverage of COVID-19 was at its highest level from 1 to 15 May. The study shows that COVID-19 related prevention, impacts, mitigation, preparedness, and world concern were the major themes in the newspapers. Many new terms like ‘quarantine’, ‘social distancing’, ‘lockdown’, etc., were presented frequently on different pages as news items. This study clearly states that a good number of photos and commercials have been published from March to May. Similarly, most of the editorials, commentaries and interviews were published on government preparedness and effects of coronavirus on an individual level. Finally, our study concludes that the interventions of the print media contribute highly in minimising the adverse effects of the COVID19 crisis and recommends that policy makers can make immediate decisions on the existing gaps of health care emergencies through the content analysis of published news on the pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and mitigation plan: Department of internal medicine experience from a clinical perspective

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, timing and preparedness for healthcare facilities are fundamental. This descriptive article narrates the Department of Internal Medicine at the College of Medicine and King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC) response before and during the COVID-19 outbreak by focusing on the preparedness and mitigation plans the department implemented for its clinical services. A COVID-19 taskforce was created to implement the pathways for healthcare workers' workflow organization, plan the effective use of isolation facilities and personal protective equipment, and enhance liaisons between departments in the medical city. Telehealth was utilized for outpatient services, and medications were delivered to patients via courier. Aerosol-generating procedures were conducted after thoroughly reviewing the clinical indications and time-related risks. Medical day unit services followed a strict multistep screening protocol and rescheduled nonurgent investigations and therapeutics when possible. The Department of Internal Medicine prepandemic preparedness helped significantly mitigate the pandemic impact on KSUMC. Prioritizing in-hospital clinical care according to the patients' conditions, full adherence to infection control measures, clear and efficient communication between departments, and utilizing telehealth were the key elements in maintaining state-of-the-art clinical care during the pandemic.

COVID-19 and Pandemic Preparedness: Foresight Narratives and Public Sector Responses

The management of the COVID-19 pandemic is a novel global challenge being addressed in real time. While some countries and regions of the world have had more recent experience managing similar viruses (such as SARS), all have had to deal with the new corona virus and the novel challenges that it presents. Public policy responses are rapidly changing, sometimes daily. This article focuses on how foresight narratives have impacted policymaking as related to the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, it provides an overview of the use of foresight within the public sector prior to the pandemic. It also investigates the key narratives in circulation during the implementation of governments' strategic objectives and the realization of visions of a 'pandemic-free' society. The approach used here is that of narrative foresight which predominantly focuses on the stories that individuals, organizations, states and civilizations tell themselves about the future. In addition to the overarching narratives, the article also investigates more specifically the most commonly used metaphors prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of the article is to ascertain which lessons we can learn in terms of successes and failures of narrative foresight in action', so as to be able to utilise this knowledge for future global problems. Finally, the article argues that many current metaphors and narratives are linked to 'futures fallacies' - detrimental thinking patterns about the future. It then concludes by briefly investigating alternative narratives and metaphors which are more likely to facilitate the desired future of adequate pandemic preparedness.

COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and Work Setting Changes

COVID-19 has made the world to rethink on their work life. With the increasing infected people and death rate, it is vital to rethink about the work setting where people are gathered in big numbers. The study on “COVID-19 in Sri Lanka and Work Setting Changes” is a comprehensive literature survey which was conducted by incorporating desk research strategy in addition to the rational thinking of the author and observations. Throughout the study COVID-19 and the workplace preparedness for COVID-19 in the world and Sri Lanka was addressed. Reasonably believing that this study contributed to existing literature, the author wishes to state the limitations faced and few recommendations for further researches.

A cross-sectional survey of COVID-19 preparedness in governmental hospitals of North-West Ethiopia.

Introduction:The novel coronavirus was first reported in December 2019, from Wuhan, China, and it has been declared as a pandemic by World Health Organization on 7 January 2020, and from that time till now the disease transmitted across the world. Hospitals need to be prepared for the overwhelming COVID-19 cases in their respective hospitals.Objectives:The objective of this study was to assess the level of hospital preparedness for COVID-19 in South Gondar Zone Governmental Hospitals, 2020.Methods:The institutionally based survey was conducted in South Gondar Zone Hospitals from 20 July to 25 July 2020. We used the World Health Organization preparedness checklist for COVID-19, and the checklist has three options for eight hospitals (not started, in progress, and started), so each hospital evaluated out of 208 points (104 items × 2) to assess each hospital their preparedness based on the checklist. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Version 21, is used for the analysis of the data. We used descriptive statistics and explained by using text and tables.Results:We evaluated all eight hospitals in these zone hospitals and only one hospital was in an acceptable level of preparation (>146 points), three hospitals were in an insufficient level of preparation (73–145 points), and the other four hospitals were grouped under the unacceptable level of preparation (<72 points) for COVID-19. And in all hospitals, there was no laboratory diagnostic method and treatment center for the COVID-19 virus.Conclusion:From the level of COVID-19 pandemic preparation from eight hospitals, only one hospital reaches the level of an acceptable level of preparedness. Mobilizing the community and other stakeholders to equip the hospital with resources and prioritization is recommended to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Personality Matters during a Pandemic: Implicit Theory Beliefs Influence Preparedness and Prevention Behaviors

AbstractWe show that individuals’ implicit theory orientation serves as an important determinant of the extent and timing of their COVID-19 preparedness behaviors (e.g., buying masks) and preventio...

The Impact of Simulation-Based Education on Nurses' Perceived Predeployment Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic Within the Cultural Context of a Middle Eastern Country.

Anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic is prevalent among the nursing workforce and has the potential to affect well-being and performance in the workplace. This paper reports on a joint education/nursing and midwifery workforce quality improvement initiative in the State of Qatar to address an urgent need for COVID-19 preparedness during the second wave of infection. A Simulation-Based Education (SBE) program was developed and delivered over a period of 2 months (February to April 2021) to prepare nurses for deployment to COVID-19 facilities. Perceived anxiety scores related to COVID-19 deployment were collected from 121 nurses before and after SBE attendance. The data demonstrates that SBE is an effective method to reduce deployment-related anxiety among registered nurses.

Editor's Pen

Editor's Pen

Natural disasters and COVID-19: health worker preparedness and response

The purpose of this study was to determine the preparedness of health workers individually and in the workplace to deal with natural disasters during COVID-19. Data collection was carried out by distributing online questionnaires through social media with a total number of respondents, namely 68 health workers. The research questionnaire was adapted from the COVID-19 Preparedness Checklist for Rural Primary Health Care and Community Settings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, health workers' personal readiness to deal with natural disasters is still lacking. Primary health care and hospitals do not yet have adequate health facilities to deal with COVID-19, and in the case of a natural disaster, the situation will worsen.

Financial impact of COVID-19 on radiology practice in India

The COVID-19 pandemic will have serious financial effects on the healthcare sector business. There will be significant short-term and long-term effects of this on Radiology services throughout the country. Various social distancing measures undertaken by the government will bring larger economic hurdles with them. An attempt to achieve COVID-19 preparedness by hospitals has led to a significant decline in patient footfall and in turn imaging volumes. Despite relief measures provided by the government like providing a moratorium on EMIs of all outstanding loans for a specified period and allocating funds toward reinforcing healthcare infrastructure, the effects of this pandemic will leave the radiology business in a crippled state, in the foreseeable future. Radiology practices have seen a significant impact on business to the extent of almost 60%–70% reduction in imaging volumes and this will be the case for the next few months to come. Administrators and radiologists should proactively take measures to device strategies and plans to tide over this crisis. Eventually, this pandemic will end, and life will have a “New Normal.” Medical aid that is being deferred today will be sought out later. Alternate means of reporting like teleradiology and artificial intelligence should be strongly pursued and providing education regarding these to their staff and the younger generation of radiologists should be of prime concern.

Availability of PPEs and training status of health professionals on COVID-19 in Silte Zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Introductionrecent infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19 highlights the importance of personal protective equipments and competent professionals on public health preparedness and response in health care systems. Hence, understanding availability of personal protective equipments and training status of health professionals is very important to fill the gap of COVID-19 preparedness and response. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess availability and adequacy of personal protective equipments and health professional's training status on COVID-19 in Silte Zone, southern Ethiopia.Methodscross sectional study was conducted from August to October 2020 in Silte Zone. First four weredas from 13 were selected randomly. Systematic sampling technique was used to select 351 health professionals from 13 health facilities of selected weredas.Resultsoverall, only 36.1% of the health professionals have received adequate training on COVID-19. About 30% of the health professionals had taken training on emergency plan of COVID-19, about 33% had been taught on COVID-19 treatment procedures. Majority 80.9% of the respondents indicated that personal protective equipments are inadequately available. Face masks, hand sanitizers and eye goggles were most scarce PPEs.Conclusionhealth professionals have been at the frontlines in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, challenges remain, such as limited availability of personal protection equipments and inadequate training of healthcare professions was identified by this study. Strengthening of training on COVID-19 and making PPEs adequately available were recommended.

COVID-19 in Ethiopia: Policy Stance, Leadership Response, and Challenges

International community impacted by the incidence like COVID-19 in different point of time. The virus caused by RNA virus that belongs to the family of CORONA (Latin Crown, from the structure of the virus under electron microscope) virus. The world both developed and underdeveloped nations has been challenged/challenging by the virus significantly. It was the first reported in China in Wuhan City at the end of 2019. The disease began to create destruction and the devastating effect of the pandemic forced the World Health Organization to declare it as a global pandemic. COVID-19 is animals and the virus spread in the form of human-to-human transmission. Physical contact and respiratory routs are the two most important well-established routs of transmission of the virus. Poor hand hygiene practice, overcrowding, and close physical contacts like hand shaking contributes for the fast spread of the virus with in very short period. In China the disease was first recognized shows educating the public is proven as a key in preventing transmission. The main objective was to explain and explore the practice of leadership response, policy stance and challenges of COVID-19 in Ethiopia. The report includes describing the response of leadership and policy stance of stance of Ethiopian government towards COVID-19 lesson from Ethiopia. The major purpose of this desk review was to arrive at synthesis opinion, analyses the data, evaluate the practice of COVID-19 protection, and provide possible conclusion and recommendation to for further regulatory directives and research issues of the government of Ethiopia. Qualitative research techniques have been used for the desk review. The method includes literature review by analyzing secondary data, research findings, and case analysis. The major governmental response of Ethiopia was like closed schools due to COVID-19 on 16 March 2020, following the declaration of the virus as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 12 March 2020. The Ministry of Education of Ethiopia developed a ‘Concept Note for Education Sector COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan’ on 3 April 2020. The national COVID-19 prevention guideline dictates the roles and responsibilities of Health care workers’ Rights, Employers and managers in health facilities and Health care workers. Though, the government doing things well, since June 2020, the number of identified COVID-19 cases has increased substantially in Ethiopia. There are insufficient network capabilities, high-quality digital education resources, and teacher capacity in use of information technology, and online teacher-student interaction and emotional communication.

Current COVID-19 situation in Palestine

Although authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are following a strict management approach to control COVID-19, their plans are still non consolidated. Yet, further coordinated efforts such as testing, tracing, public engagement, socioeconomic support packages are required for more efficient COVID-19 preparedness and response in Palestine. A more concise and unified response plan with a long-term vision including a robust exit strategy is essential for effectively combating the pandemic in Palestine. The response plan should include strategic directions; increased financial investments and efforts in strengthening the public health system´s governance, capacity, and health research and surveillance. Although life has returned to normal, the people have become more educated about the dangers of the disease and they become committed to the preventive protocols. Despite challenges, Palestinians have managed to maintain a basic level of healthcare that can be built upon with the support of the international community.

COVID-19 Pandemic, Challenges, and Opportunities for Neurorehabilitation in Bangladesh

COVID-19 pandemic challenged the health-care system globally. It intensified the existing burden of rehabilitation of neurological patients. That adverse impact has been more profound in developing countries. This is an exploratory narrative review conducted during May 1 to July 31, 2020 to reflect on the COVID-19 impacts and how to address the challenges of rehabilitation services in Bangladesh. Nonsystematic review methods were used, and to some-extent, the Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis statements were followed for this review. Bangladesh is a Lower–Middle-Income Country currently facing multiple challenges with more than 16 million people with disability. The country has world's sixth highest density of population and currently further burdened with the largest refugee camp of the world. It has serious shortage of health-care workers at different levels making COVID-19 preparedness and mitigation difficult. The neurorehabilitation services faced serious challenges. There is no database or registry for stroke, spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury. The rehabilitation teamwork is facing daunting challenge at the height of COVID-19. Despite shortage of work force, funding, infrastructures, poor awareness, and difficult professional relationship within the rehabilitation team, neurorehabilitation services are gradually developing in Bangladesh.

523. COVID-19 Preparedness in Hospice and Palliative Care

BackgroundDue to the emergence of COVID-19 and resulting pandemic, there is an increased demand for palliative care and hospice care services. However, the impact of COVID-19 on the hospice and palliative agencies is unknown.MethodsAn electronic survey was disseminated via the Hospice & Palliative Nurses Association newsletter, posted to the Sigma Theta Tau Hospice and Palliative Care Community Group discussion board and advertised through social media from May 7–28, 2020. Summary statistics were computed.ResultsWe collected 36 surveys representing all U.S. regions. Most respondents (78%) reported that their agency has cared for confirmed COVID-19 patients. Only half of agencies had access to laboratory facilities for surveillance and detection of the presence of outbreaks in both patients and staff (58%) and the ability to test patients and providers for COVID-19 (55%). Due to COVID-19, participants stated that the agency added new protocols regarding aerosol-generating procedures policies (58%), use of surface barriers (61%) and PPE usage (e.g. donning and doffing) in patient homes (56%). The majority (76%) reported that their agency required field clinicians to call ahead to ascertain COVID-19 exposure/symptoms before a home visit.More than half (58%) reported that their agency lacked supplies, including N95 respirators (45%), cleaning/disinfectant product (23%), alcohol based sanitizer (18%), eye protection (18%), gowns (18%), and surgical masks (14%). Overall, participants shared that field clinicians had to reuse (76%), extend (73%) or ration (30%) PPE supplies. Respondents reported that their agency accessed supplemental PPE through state/local resources (67%), private/community donations (67%), and do-it-yourself efforts (55%). One third (31%) reported that their agency was experiencing staffing shortages due to COVID-19; of these, 60% reported that shortages were due to staff infected with/quarantined due to COVID-19.ConclusionOur findings suggest that COVID-19 has presented significant challenges for palliative care and hospice agencies as they provide care to patients and families at an unprecedented rate.Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Mongolia Red Cross Society, influenza preparedness planning and the response to COVID-19: the case for investing in epidemic preparedness.

Influenza preparedness planning by Mongolia Red Cross Society in 2019 has provided a strong foundation for engagement with COVID-19 preparedness and response. The experience underscores the importance and value of investing in epidemic preparedness, and the importance of doing so well in advance of disease outbreaks.