Face Of COVID Research Articles

Smart Cities Mission in the Face of COVID: Scope and Scale of 'Smart' COVID Responses in India.

COVID has expedited and expanded the already precarious smart city development in India with the multitude of 'smart' COVID responses-broadly known as CovTech-introduced since the early days of the global pandemic. This paper offers an analysis of the scope and scale of smart responses to COVID in the first 20 cities prioritized for smart city implementation-as part of the Smart Cities Mission in India. The analysis unravels the diversity within the smart COVID response, as 125 COVID applications, 14 COVID-War-Rooms, and numerous examples of smart public place initiatives are discussed. The findings include a typology of COVID applications and shed light on the operations of COVID-War-Rooms throughout the nation. The learnings point toward a mostly top-down approach to smart COVID response. Yet, early evidence indicates the existence of an alternative subaltern smart COVID response to provide bottom-up support to the most vulnerable groups, filling the gaps in the top-down approach. More research is required to thoroughly understand the scope and scale of the subaltern smart response to COVID.

Closing the Equity Gap and Improving the Success of All Students in Anatomy and Physiology through a Scaffolded Approach

The importance of a diverse healthcare workforce has been highlighted and supported by the literature as a key factor in reducing healthcare disparities and improving access to and quality of healthcare among underserved populations. However, minorities remain underrepresented throughout the health professions and in New York, the Hispanic population is particularly underrepresented across the health professions. The largest private Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in NY state, Mercy College has a robust health professions program. However, Anatomy and Physiology (A&P), the gateway course for most health professions students, is the number one obstacle to persistence in those majors. In addition, this obstacle disproportionately impacts Hispanic students with a resultant equity gap in student success. Through a multi-pronged scaffolded approach which involved developing and implementing evidence-based inclusive practices we have closed the equity gap and improved the overall student success of all students in A&P 1 lecture and lab, even in the face of COVID.

Trumpism and the Defense of Individual Liberties: Considerations on Marcel Gauchet’s Discussion of Individualism

ABSTRACT Marcel Gauchet spoke of the “eclipse of the political” during the neo-liberal era, but with the rise of populism he is now forced to speak of a “revenge of the political”. As the eclipse was discussed in terms of a new era of individualization, understood as the culmination of the “disenchantment of the world”, one has a right to ask what is the place of individualization in the era of the political’s revenge, particularly as, in the face of Covid 19, the refusal to wear masks is couched in terms of the defense of individual liberties? In what is an immanent critique of Gauchet’s claims, individualization is considered under four rubrics: abstract individualization vs. concrete socialization; the dilemmas of recognition; rejection of alterity; and the loss of the sense of the social. The paper concludes that the “revenge” should be understood as a revenge of an “anti-political” politics.

Boots

"Boots" is a lyrical, narrative poem from the perspective of a Maine Coon Cat rescued one winter by a boy, Johnny, who grows up to be a young man enlisting in the service. Johnny comes back wounded in many ways, one of them being an amputee with phantom limb syndrome. Boots tries to help his owner as best he can by scratching the prosthetic leg that seems to pain Johnny so, and ponders the winters long ago when they used to play in the snow together. After our global campaign against COVID, I couldn't help but feel the poem had a renewed sense of meaning to many of the walking wounded who served their communities in the face of COVID. So it is a poem I hope in memorial to veterans of wars military and medical.

Covid–19: Pandemic Risks and SMEs Sustainability in Developing Nations: Evidence From Nigeria

Due to the COVID–19 pandemic, several Small and Medium Scale Businesses have collapsed. This paper therefore examines COVID–19, risk management and SMEs sustainability in developing nations. The main objective of this paper is to suggest implementable risk management strategies that can help revamp the business operations of SMEs. The specific objectives are to ascertain the effect of COVID–19 on SMEs business operation; and to determine the role of effective risk management strategies in revamping SMEs business operation from COVID–19 pandemic. The study made use of cross-sectional design approach which recognises that data be collected at one time. The population of this study consists of all the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos State. Ordinary Least Square of Regression model was employed to test the hypotheses of this study. This paper revealed that COVID–19 has significant negative effects on SMEs business operation; effective risk management strategies such as risk avoidance, reduction, sharing and retention can play a significant role in revamping SMEs business operation from COVID–19 pandemic; and adequate financing can mitigate the negative effect of Covid–19 on SMEs business operations. Arisen from the analysis of the study, this study recommended that financial institutions should make more funds available to SMEs especially in the face of Covid–19 pandemic; and SMEs should employ effective risk management strategies such as risk avoidance, reduction, sharing and retention.

Frugality in Business context: South African Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) prudential measures in the face of COVID 19

Frugality in Business context: South African Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) prudential measures in the face of COVID 19

Experiences of COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination and affective reactions in a multiple race sample of U.S. young adults

BackgroundLittle remains known about both Asian and Asian American (A/AA) and non-Asian young adults’ experiences and affective reactions regarding COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination. To our knowledge, this is the first study that explores the nature and impact of COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination within a multi-racial sample.MethodsThis study uses qualitative open-ended responses from a sub-sample of Wave I of the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES) data collected between March to September 2020. Thematic analysis was used to explore two open-ended questions: “Are there experiences we missed in the survey so far that you wish to describe?” and “What are your thoughts about the current social climate?” The data analysis for this study focused on 113 discrimination or racism-related comments.ResultsA total of 1331 young adults completed an online survey of which 611 provided comments; a multi-racial sample of 95 individuals (65.3% non-Asians, 24.7% A/AA) contributed 113 COVID-19 anti-Asian discrimination or racism-related comments. Two overarching themes were: types of discrimination (societal, interpersonal, intrapersonal) and affective reactions to discrimination (fear, anxiety/distress, hopelessness/depression, and avoidance). Not only did both A/AA and non-Asian participants report witnessing or hearing reports of anti-Asian discrimination, but both groups described having negative affective reactions to anti-Asian discrimination.ConclusionAnti-Asian discrimination in the face of COVID may be more widespread than initial reports indicate. Our finding suggests that anti-Asian discrimination is a societal illness that impacts all populations in the U.S. This calls for cross-racial coalitions and solidarity in the fight against discrimination and racism.

Restaurant Readiness in the implementation of Health Protocols during Covid-19 Pandemic in Simalungun Regency

This pandemic has had a major impact on all sectors including the economy. Currently, many countries are preparing for a new normal in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, including Indonesia. Restaurant is one of the public places and hospitality service that must be prepared for the New normal. The purpose of this study was to determine the readiness of restaurants in Simalungun Regency, North Sumatera during the new normal period. The research design used observation and quantitative research. The number of samples was 40 restaurant visitors in Simalungun Regency which were selected by proportional random sampling. Data collection techniques through direct observation. Data analysis was carried out descriptively to determine the readiness of restaurants during the new normal period. The results showed that most restaurants in Simalungun Regency had implemented health protocols. Health promotion for behavior change is needed continuously through health campaigns and strict supervision of the implementation of health protocols in restaurants to suppress the transmission of Covid-19. It can be concluded that restaurants in Simalungun Regency are ready to implement health protocols in the New Normal Era in the face of covid 19.

Effects of Covid-19 on Euro area GDP and inflation: demand vs. supply disturbances

This paper analyzes the macroeconomic effects of the Covid-19 epidemic on Euro Area (EA) GDP and inflation, using a stylized New Keynesian model. Covid is interpreted as a combination of aggregate demand and aggregate supply disturbances. Offsetting aggregate demand and supply changes are shown to account for the stability of EA inflation, in the face of Covid. The evidence presented here indicates that Covid-induced aggregate demand and supply shifts were persistent. An aggregate supply contraction is identified as the dominant force driving the sharp fall of EA GDP in 2020.

Redefining Coronavirus: Update on the Impacts of COVID-19 in the Rural Areas of Abia State

Public health professionals working in rural communities are aware of the health disparities which result from lack of physicians, limited services, and income during the pandemic. Also they are aware that some populations are more vulnerable than others. People in the rural areas are experiencing problems on their physical, social and economic life styles because the pandemic is exacerbating some inequities. Individuals especially women and children in the rural areas are facing barriers in accessing health care services due to lack of resources and availability of health care providers in the communities. With COVID-19, women are less likely to seek services, including sexual and reproductive health services. Such services may be postponed to limit exposure to COVID-19 infection. This is particularly disturbing because in addition to the women maintaining their own health, they are also responsible for taking care of the mental, emotional and physical health needs of their families as well as all domestic responsibilities. As such, women in rural settings face special challenges as a result of these significant roles they play. Therefore, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated on women by virtue of their sex and the roles they play in the family. This is a qualitative study that reviewed the reports of the 36 health care professionals under the aegis of members of COVID-19 committee working in partnership with state government to control, prevent and cushion the effects of COVID-19 in the society. This study is therefore, a summary of the observations of the COVID-19 committee members made up of 10(27.8%) females and 26(72.2%) males. The study focused on exploring how individual lifestyles in the rural areas have been affected in the face of COVID- 19 pandemic by identifying the vulnerabilities in social, political and economic systems which can amplify the impacts of the pandemic. Findings showed that preventive measures like lockdown and social distancing rules, wearing of face mask, hand washing with soap, and environmental cleanliness were not observed. The study noted that health seeking behaviours, sexual and marital life including income, education, employment and social interactions were all negatively affected. Most hospitals were battered and health care professionals boycotted the hospitals for fear of being infected. It was found that lack of health workers in the hospitals caused a good number of individuals to engage in self-medications. Also most pregnant women delivered their babies at home and few with traditional birth attendants. Some of the women who had deliveries at home experienced complications during and after delivery. Unfortunately, the report showed that governments’ financial supports to these women and their family members were insignificant as the government was more concerned with mitigating the spread of COVID-19 than assisting women to have safe deliveries. Therefore, the vulnerable groups especially women, children, and the elderly who experienced threats to their safety and wellbeing as a result of the services that were disrupted during the pandemic, should be assisted so as not to lose their lives to preventable diseases.

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE AMBIVALENT POTENTIALS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USE IN COVID 19 PANDEMIC CAMPAIGNS

The fear created by the Coronavirus as seen in the world today and the manner social media is churning out all manner of information (misinformation, disinformation, memes, innuendos, half - truths, lies etc.) about its cure and prevention is creating a situation of uncertainty. The situation becomes more disturbing since none of the claims in social media platforms regarding the therapies and recipes (solutions) for the cure or prevention of COVID-19 has been approved or certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) or the Centre for Disease Control (CDC). It seems, however, that only the prevalence of social media can suffice for the provision of adequate, regular and up - to - date information on the pandemic. This can also explain the reason for leveraging social media platforms to enhance fast and wide diffusion of knowledge about Coronavirus all over the world. By its nature, social media allows for information to be readily shared – a role it has seemingly played in the face of the COVID- 19 pandemic - and unlike traditional news outlets there is no filter, no fact - checking and often a lot of bias. It becomes imperative therefore to assess the ambivalent potentials which social media display in the face of COVID- 19 pandemic vis-à-vis the impacts they have on the consumers of the information. The paper adopted the library research approach in which relevant conceptual literatures and empirical studies were analysed with the aim to ascertain whether social media display ambivalence in the campaign against the spread of COVID-19. The paper found, among others that the ambivalent potentials of social media use in the campaign against COVID-19 was glaring. It recommends, among others that consumers of social media products in this period should listen more to and, or check for updates by governments and other authorised agencies such as WHO and CDC rather than relying on unwholesome information from social media platforms.

COVID 19 Diagnostic Tests: A Study of 12,270 Patients to Determine Which Test Offers the Most Beneficial Results

COVID 19 has caused capitulation from healthcare entities all over the world. First described in Hubei, China, the virus has spread to 185 countries, showing little signs of eradication or eradication. There does not exist a medical treatment regimen or a vaccine to address COVID 19 definitively. The best response, to date, has been early diagnosis and immediate isolation or quarantine of the patient, with supportive care. As medical institutions all around the world struggle to keep up with this pandemic, there is not a consensus amongst medical professionals in the rapid diagnosis of this disease entity. Purpose: The purpose of our study was to review the literature and establish a test, or tests, that would aid the clinician in attaining a swift, yet accurate diagnosis. Methods: We searched PubMed and Google scholar and reviewed 32 articles. Keyword searches consisted of COVID 19, pandemic, diagnoses, diagnostic testing, pandemic amongst others. We compared the data obtained from these studies in an effort to find the best diagnostic test. Results: There were a total of 12,270 patients that were in our study [1]-[32]. This is the largest study to date in the literature addressing diagnosis of COVID 19. Fever, cough and fatigue, in that respective order were the most common clinical symptoms. Laboratory findings consisted of leukopenia, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR) and elevated C-reactive protein, CRP. The gold standard test described in multiple studies was the RT-PCR. Serum assays of IgM and IgG were also drawn and found to be accurate in 93% of the time. CT Chest was both sensitive and specific, 90% and 86%. This diagnostic imaging was even more successful when coupled with clinical symptoms and approaching days 7 - 12 since the onset of clinical symptoms. Discussion: This is the largest study compiled to address diagnostic testing in COVID 19 patients. The patient population is spread vastly around the world, with access to many reported tests limited in certain countries. Given the significant sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic imaging, in the setting of clinical symptoms, we recommend patient undergo CT Chest in the face of COVID 19 exposure and clinical symptoms. While RT-PCR, IgM-IgG assays are beneficial, isolation, treatment, and possible quarantine of presumptive positive COVID 19 patients (based upon clinical symptoms and imaging) should not be delayed, for fear of increased infectivity and further risk to society at large.