Impact Of Containment Measures Research Articles

Changes in the prevalence of mental health problems during the first year of the pandemic: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis

AimTo describe the pattern of the prevalence of mental health problems during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and examine the impact of containment measures on these trends.MethodsWe identified...

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Head and Neck Cancer Management: The Experience of the Maxillo-Facial Surgery Department of a French Regional Referral Center in a High-Incidence Area.

Background: Cancer patients are at a high risk of complications in cases of infection, and head and neck cancers (HNC) are no exception. Since late 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has caused a global health crisis, with high rates and severe forms of the disease in cancer patients. Hospitalization, surgery and radiotherapy were rapidly described as increasing the risk of infection. Since March 2020, the Amiens University Hospital (France) has been taking care of COVID-19 patients while its maxillofacial surgery department managed HNC patients without interruption, even during lockdown periods. However, many questions concerning the impact on patient care were still pending. The aim of this study is to describe HNC management in our center during the first epidemic peak and to evaluate the impact of containment measures on patient treatment. Methods: We retrospectively included 44 HNC patients treated in our department between 1 March and 31 August 2020. Two groups were defined according to the period of care: lockdown (March to May) and lighter restrictions (June to August). Results: The results show typical epidemiological characteristics, maintained management times and non-downgraded procedures. Conclusions: Thus, during the first epidemic peak, continuity of care and patients' safety could be ensured thanks to adequate means, adapted procedures and an experienced surgical team.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health: a cross-sectional study on eating disorder patients and their unaffected siblings

BackgroundAdolescence has emerged as a particularly vulnerable phase during the COVID-19 pandemic, with eating disorders (EDs) representing a prominent psychopathological challenge linked to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Emerging evidence suggests that not only individuals with EDs but also their healthy siblings (HS) may experience unique psychological effects in this context. However, the existing literature on this topic remains limited. This study seeks to examine and compare the effects of the pandemic on adolescents and adults, with a specific focus on the impact of containment measures, disruptions in daily routines, and alterations in life trajectories, for both individuals with EDs and their HS.MethodsWe enrolled 273 individuals, including those diagnosed with EDs and their HS. Among the participants, 120 were under the age of 19. Multiple self-report questionnaires were administered to assess the psychological impact of 1 year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These assessments covered a range of psychological constructs, including posttraumatic symptoms, general psychopathology, and eating-related concerns.ResultsNotably, adolescent patients with EDs demonstrated the highest psychopathological scores within our sample. They were the sole subgroup to surpass clinical cutoffs, exhibiting more pronounced issues concerning eating-related concerns and general psychological well-being. Our findings also shed light on the unique experiences of HS during the pandemic.ConclusionOur findings highlight the specific psychological burden endured by adolescents with EDs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the vulnerability of this demographic. Moreover, the experiences of HS, often overlooked in the literature, warrant increased attention in future health programs and interventions.

"I was also trying to protect myself and save my life," experiences of people living with severe mental illness and their caregivers regarding COVID-19 response in Uganda.

People with severe mental illness (SMI) are highly vulnerable and more affected by epidemics than the general population. They encounter limited access to care, miss out on infection prevention measures and are more prone to relapses. This study explored the experiences of individuals with SMI and their caregivers in Uganda during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its focus was on the impact of COVID-19 and its response measures on their mental health. The study was conducted at three sites; a national referral mental hospital, a regional referral hospital and a district hospital. Participants included persons with SMI, their caregivers and mental health professionals. Data collection involved in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Phenomenological thematic analysis was employed. The key themes identified encompassed challenges in accessing mental health services, disrupted routine care, the impact of lockdown measures and discrimination. The findings highlight the unique challenges faced by individuals with SMI and their caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda. There is need for interventions focusing on continued access to care, improving information dissemination and addressing the psychological impact of containment measures on people with SMI.

Employment transitions and COVID‐19 containment measures: Evidence from a developing country

AbstractContainment measures implemented to curb the spread of coronavirus (COVID‐19) disrupted labour markets across the world. While several studies focus on the impact of containment measures on job losses, this paper documents the effect of containment measures (specifically variation in the strictness of these measures) on employment patterns or transitions. COVID disruption can be viewed as multiple shocks to the labour market (as against a single shock). This is important because labour income is a key driver of aggregate inequality in developing countries, and such disruption has a knock‐on effect on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, we estimate the causal relationship between coronavirus containment measures and employment dynamics in South Africa. Exploiting the timing of interviews and within individual variation, we find that containment measures impact employment transitions. Specifically, stricter containment measures have a positive effect on the transition into unemployment, and the converse is true for the transition into employment. The implication of this causal relationship for development, ongoing management of COVID‐19 and future pandemics is discussed.

The impact of containment measures and monetary and fiscal responses on US financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper analyses the effects of containment measures and monetary and fiscal responses on US financial markets during the Covid-19 pandemic. More specifically, it applies fractional integration methods to analyse their impact on the daily S&P500, the US Treasury Bond Index (USTB), the S&P Green Bond Index (GREEN) and the Dow Jones (DJ) Islamic World Market Index (ISLAM) over the period 1/01/2020–10/03/2021. The results suggest that all four indices are highly persistent and exhibit orders of integration close to 1. A small degree of mean reversion is observed only for the S&P500 under the assumption of white noise errors and USTB with autocorrelated errors; therefore, market efficiency appears to hold in most cases. The mortality rate, surprisingly, seems to have affected stock and bond prices positively with autocorrelated errors. As for the policy responses, both the containment and fiscal measures had a rather limited impact, whilst there were significant announcement effects which lifted markets, especially in the case of monetary announcements. There is also evidence of a significant, positive response to changes in the effective Federal funds rate, which suggests that the financial industry, mainly benefiting from interest rises, plays a dominant role.

Impact of COVID-19 Containment Measures on Unemployment: A Multi-country Analysis Using a Difference-in-Differences Framework.

At the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions, countries resorted to containment measures to stem the spread of the disease. In this paper, we have conducted a global study using a sample of 46 countries to evaluate whether these containment measures resulted in unemployment. We use a difference-in-differences (DID) specification with a heterogenous intervention to show the varying intensity effect of containment measures on unemployment, on a sample of 46 countries. We explain variations in unemployment from January-June 2020 using stringency of containment measures, controlling for gross domestic product (GDP) growth, inflation rate, exports, cases of COVID-19 per million, COVID-19-specific fiscal spending, time fixed effects, region fixed effects, and region trends. We conduct further subset analyses by COVID-cases quintiles and gross national income (GNI) per capita quintiles. The median level of containment stringency in our sample was 43.7. Our model found that increasing stringency to this level would result in unemployment increasing by 1.87 percentage points (or 1.67 pp, after controlling for confounding). For countries with below median COVID-19 cases and below median GNI per capita, this effect is larger. Containment measures have a strong impact on unemployment. This effect is larger in poorer countries and countries with low COVID-19 cases. Given that unemployment has profound effects on mortality and morbidity, this consequence of containment measures may compound the adverse health effects of the pandemic for the most vulnerable groups. It is necessary for governments to consider this in future pandemic management, and to attempt to alleviate the impact of containment measures via effective fiscal spending.

The impact of COVID-19 containment measures on changes in electricity demand

Emergency measures imposed by governments around the world have had massive impacts on the energy sector, resulting in dramatic reductions in total energy demand. The New Zealand government introduced strict containment measures in response to the Covid-19 virus. We use an augmented auto-regressive-moving-average model to assess the impact of containment measures on wholesale electricity demand. The study spans the period 27 February 2020 to 23 February 2021. Results show that the Alert Level-4 lockdown had the largest, significant, and negative effect on electricity demand compared to other containment level measures. Specifically, Alert Level 4 resulted in a 12% reduction in wholesale electricity demand. Structural breaks in the data are evident as containment progressed to Alert Level 1. This unprecedented experiment provides insights into underlying patterns of electricity demand, therefore, projection of economic activity. Furthermore, the analysis offers insights into the performance of the electricity market when both aggregate demand and the pattern of demand change in response to exogenous constraints. Finally, the outcomes of this analysis also provide a robust reference for other countries on how the New Zealand market performed.

Italian flu season 2020-2021: reasons for the drop and insights for the future

BackgroundHaving seen the trend of 2020 flu season in the Southern hemisphere, the objectives of this study were to describe the trend of 2020-21 flu season in Italy, relating it with containment measures undertaken due to COVID-19, and to provide insights for next flu seasons and prevention of airborne diseases.MethodsWe collected data on Italian influenza virological samples on FluNet. We also collected French, German and Spanish data as a comparison. Data on Italian ILI (influenza-like illness) surveillance system were assessed with InfluNet. We used the Containment and Health Index of the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) to evaluate the impact of containment measures on Italian ILI incidence (Spearman's correlation).ResultsNo sample out of 6818 tested positive to influenza virus in Italy in 2020-21 flu season; 21.6% of the samples tested positive to SARS-CoV-2. France, Germany and Spain registered a maximum of 0.10% of positive samples to influenza virus. In Italy the mean of positive samples to influenza virus in seasons from 2015-16 to 2019-20 was 28.8%; the mean number of processed samples in those seasons was 14008. ILI incidence in Italy remained at interseasonal levels during all flu season (mean 1.44/1000; range 0.85-2.04). According to the Containment and Health Index, with increasing containment measures a deflection of ILI incidence in Italy was described (p = 0.015).ConclusionsContainment measures, along with rise of seasonal flu vaccination, are the most likely factors to explain the drop in cases in Italian 2020-21 flu season. The reduction of cases in neighbouring countries lower the role of the downsizing of Italian surveillance system seen in 2020-21 compared to seasons from 2015-16 to 2019-20. Rules and conducts may perpetrate the benefit on the decreased disease activity seen in 2020-21 flu season.Key messages Containment measures and flu vaccinations are the most impacting factors on the drop of influenza cases in 2020-21 in Italy.Though the Italian surveillance system was downsized in 2020-21, the experience of neighbouring countries suggests that the decreased flu activity was factual.

Factors shaping the COVID-19 epidemic curve: a multi-country analysis

BackgroundLockdown measures are the backbone of containment measures for the COVID-19 pandemic both in high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, in view of the inevitably-occurring second and third global covid-19 wave, assessing the success and impact of containment measures on the epidemic curve of COVID-19 and people’s compliance with such measures is crucial for more effective policies. To determine the containment measures influencing the COVID-19 epidemic curve in nine targeted countries across high-, middle-, and low-income nations.MethodsFour HICs (Germany, Sweden, Italy, and South Korea) and five LMICs (Mexico, Colombia, India, Nigeria, and Nepal) were selected to assess the association using interrupted time series analysis of daily case numbers and deaths of COVID-19 considering the following factors: The “stringency index (SI)” indicating how tight the containment measures were implemented in each country; and the level of compliance with the prescribed measures using human mobility data. Additionally, a scoping review was conducted to contextualize the findings.ResultsMost countries implemented quite rigorous lockdown measures, particularly the LMICs (India, Nepal, and Colombia) following the model of HICs (Germany and Italy). Exceptions were Sweden and South Korea, which opted for different strategies. The compliance with the restrictions—measured as mobility related to home office, restraining from leisure activities, non-use of local transport and others—was generally good, except in Sweden and South Korea where the restrictions were limited. The endemic curves and time-series analysis showed that the containment measures were successful in HICs but not in LMICs.ConclusionThe imposed lockdown measures are alarming, particularly in resource-constrained settings where such measures are independent of the population segment, which drives the virus transmission. Methods for examining people’s movements or hardships that are caused by covid- no work, no food situation are inequitable. Novel and context-adapted approach of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis are therefore crucial.

Impact of nonpharmacological COVID-19 interventions in hospitalizations for childhood pneumonia in Brazil.

The knowledge about the impact of the nonpharmacological measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic can give insight into ways in which they can also be applied for other respiratory diseases. To assess the impact of containment measures of the COVID-19 pandemic on pneumonia hospitalizations in children from 0 to 14 years of age in Brazil. Data from hospital admissions for pneumonia were obtained from the Department of Informatics of Brazilian Public Health System database in the period of 2015-2020 and analyzed by macroregions and age groups. To evaluate the effect of containment measures, on the incidence of pneumonia, the absolute reduction and relative reduction were calculated by analyzing the subsets 2015-2019 vs. 2020. Comparing the subsets of April-August 2015-2019 vs. April-August 2020 for Brazil (total), there was an significant reduction in the average incidence of hospitalizations, with numbers ranging from -82% [IRR 0.17 (0.14-0.21)] for <4 years (prepandemic 741.8/100,000 vs. pandemic 132.7/100.000), -83% [IRR 0.17 (0.10-0.27)] for 5-9 years (prepandemic 113.6/100,000 vs. pandemic 19.6/100.000), -77% [IRR 0.23 (0.11-0.46)] for 10-14 (prepandemic 42.0/100,000 vs. pandemic 9.8/100.000) and -82% [IRR 0.18 (0.15-0.21)] for all children ≤14 years (prepandemic 897.4/100,000 vs. pandemic 162.1/100.000). We found a significant decrease in cases of all cause pneumonia in children under 14 years and especially in the age group <9 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may be associated with the nonpharmacological measures applied to control the SARS-CoV-2.

Impact of Pandemic Nonpharmacological Public Health Interventions in Response to COVID-19 on Hospitalizations for Pneumonia in Children in Brazil

Background: The knowledge about the impact of the nonpharmacological measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic can give insight to ways in which they can also be applied for other respiratory diseases and therefore possibly help to reduce the burden of respiratory conditions in health systems. To assess the impact of containment measures of the COVID-19 pandemic on pneumonia hospitalizations in children from 0 to 14 years of age in Brazil. &amp;nbsp; Methods: Data from hospital admissions for pneumonia were obtained from the Department of Informatics of Brazilian Public Health System database in the period of 2015&ndash;2020 and analyzed by macro-regions and age groups. To evaluate the effect of containment measures, used in the pandemic, on the incidence of pneumonia, the absolute reduction (without - with pandemic containment measures) and relative reduction (without - with pandemic containment measures / without pandemic containment measures) were calculated by analyzing the subsets 2015-2019 vs 2020. &amp;nbsp; Findings: Comparing the subsets of April-August 2015-2019 vs April-August 2020, there was an expressive reduction in the average incidence of hospitalizations, with numbers ranging from -87% [IRR 0.12 (0.10 to 0.14)] for &amp;lt; 4 years, -79% [IRR 0.21 (0.07 to 0.57)] for 5-9 years, -73% [IRR 0.26 (0.05 to 1.21)] for 10-14 and -86% [IRR 0.14 (0.06 to 0.29)] for&amp;nbsp; &amp;lt;14 years. When comparing the subsets by macro-regions of Brazil (April-August 2015-2019 vs April-August 2020), a drop in hospitalizations was observed which ranged from -77% [IRR 0.23 (0.15 to 0.34)] in the Southeast to -87% [IRR 0.12 (0.07 to 0.21)] in the Northeast in children under 4 years. For children 5-9 years the fall ranged from -69% [IRR 0.30 (0.11 to 0.79)] in the Southeast region to -90% [IRR 0.10 (0.02 to 0.38)] in the South and in children 10-14 years, hospitalizations ranged from -73% [IRR 0.26 (0.05 to 1.21)] to -89% [IRR 0.19 (0.03 to 0.98)] in the South. &amp;nbsp; Interpretation: We found a significant decrease in cases of pneumonia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonpharmacological public health interventions can contribute to the decline of other respiratory infectious diseases. Funding: The present work was carried out with the support of the Coordination of Improvement of Personnel Higher Education - Brazil (CAPES) - Financing Code 001. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Declaration of Interest: None to declare.

Family exposure and the impact of containment measures to children with coronavirus disease 2019 outside Hubei, China: a cross-sectional study.

BackgroundIn response to the ongoing epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), China has carried out restrictive disease containment measures across the country.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we collected demographic and epidemiological data of 376 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 among children younger than 18 years of age. Using descriptive statistics and odds ratios, we described the odds of exposure outside the family after the implementation of control measures compared to before.ResultsChildren diagnosed on or after February 4, 2020, had a lower odds of exposure to COVID-19 outside of the family compared to those diagnosed before February 3, 2020 (OR =0.594, 95% CI: 0.391 to 0.904). In the stratified analysis, children aged 0 to 5 years had the lowest odds of exposure outside of the family (OR =0.420, 95% CI: 0.196 to 0.904) compared to the other age groups assessed.ConclusionsOur study on the children infected with COVID-19 as well as their exposure within family provided evidence that the implementation of containment measures was effective in reducing the odds of exposure outside of the family, especially for preschool children. Continuation of these efforts, coupled with tailored prevention and health education messaging for younger aged children, may help to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 among children until other therapeutic interventions or vaccines are available.

The Impact of Containment Measures and Monetary and Fiscal Responses on US Financial Markets During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper analyses the effects of containment measures and monetary and fiscal responses on US financial markets during the Covid-19 pandemic. More specifically, it applies fractional integration methods to analyse their impact on the daily S&P500, the US Treasury Bond Index (USTB), the S&P Green Bond Index (GREEN) and the Dow Jones (DJ) Islamic World Market Index (ISLAM) over the period 1/01/2020-10/03/2021. The results suggest that all four indices are highly persistent and exhibit orders of integration close to 1. A small degree of mean reversion is observed only for the S&P500 under the assumption of white noise errors and USTB with autocorrelated errors; therefore, market efficiency appears to hold in most cases. The mortality rate, surprisingly, seems to have affected stock and bond prices positively with autocorrelated errors. As for the policy responses, both the containment and fiscal measures had a rather limited impact, whilst there were significant announcement effects which lifted markets, especially in the case of monetary announcements. There is also evidence of a significant, positive response to changes in the effective Federal funds rate, which suggests that the financial industry, mainly benefiting from interest rises, plays a dominant role.

Cameroon

Since the approval of the first Rapid Credit Facility (RCF-1) request on May 4, 2020 (IMF Country Report No 20/185), weaker external demand in major trading partners (China and Europe) and a more pronounced impact of containment measures to slow the rising number of COVID-19 cases, have further deteriorated growth prospects and worsened Cameroon’s external and fiscal positions. Given limited fiscal buffers and urgent balance of payments needs due to the pandemic, the authorities allowed the current ECF arrangement expire at end-September, reiterated their interest on a successor arrangement, and in the meantime requested financial assistance under the “exogenous shocks window” of the RCF equivalent to 40 percent of quota (SDR 110.4 million). This additional request will bring the total disbursement under the RCF to 100 percent of quota in 2020.

Initial Assessment of the Impact of the Emergency State Lockdown Measures on the 1st Wave of the COVID-19 Epidemic in Portugal.

Portugal took early action to control the COVID-19 epidemic, initiating lockdown measures on March 16th when it recorded only 62 cases of COVID-19 per million inhabitants and reported no deaths. The Portuguese public complied quickly, reducing their overall mobility by 80%. The aim of this study was to estimate the initial impact of the lockdown in Portugal in terms of the reduction of the burden on the healthcare system. We forecasted epidemic curves for: Cases, hospital inpatients (overall and in intensive care), and deathswithout lockdown, assuming that the impact of containment measures would start 14 days after initial lockdown was implemented. We used exponential smoothing models for deaths, intensive care and hospitalizations and an ARIMA model for number of cases. Models were selected considering fitness to the observed data up to the 31st March 2020. We then compared observed (with intervention) and forecasted curves (without intervention). Between April 1st and April 15th, there were 146 fewer deaths (-25%), 5568 fewer cases (-23%) and, as of April 15th, there were 519 fewer intensive care inpatients (-69%) than forecasted without the lockdown. On April 15th, the number of intensive care inpatients could have reached 748, three times higher than the observed value (229) if the intervention had been delayed. If the lockdown had not been implemented in mid-March, Portugal intensive care capacity (528 beds) would have likelybeen breached during the first half of April. The lockdown seems to have been effective in reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2, serious COVID-19 disease, and associated mortality, thus decreasing demand on health services. An early lockdown allowed time for the National Health Service to mobilize resources and acquire personal protectiveequipment, increase testing, contact tracing and hospital and intensive care capacity and to promote broad prevention and control measures. When lifting more stringent measures, strong surveillance and communication strategies that mobilize individual prevention efforts are necessary.

Gabon

Since the approval of the first RFI request on April 9, 2020 (IMF Country Report No 20/109), weaker external demand and a more pronounced impact of containment measures have further deteriorated growth prospects and worsened external and fiscal positions. The authorities are requesting a purchase under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) of 50 percent of quota (SDR 108 million) to be used as budget support to help address urgent balance of payment (BoP) needs and mitigate the risk of disorderly fiscal or BoP adjustment. This additional request will bring the total purchases under the RFI to 100 percent of quota in 2020.

Clarification of Misleading Perceptions of COVID-19 Fatality and Testing Rates in Italy: Data Analysis.

BackgroundThe fatality rate of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Italy is controversial and is greatly affecting discussion on the impact of containment measures that are straining the world’s social and economic fabric, such as instigating large-scale isolation and quarantine, closing borders, imposing limits on public gatherings, and implementing nationwide lockdowns.ObjectiveThe scientific community, citizens, politicians, and mass media are expressing concerns regarding data suggesting that the number of COVID-19–related deaths in Italy is significantly higher than in the rest of the world. Moreover, Italian citizens have misleading perceptions related to the number of swab tests that have actually been performed. Citizens and mass media are denouncing the coverage of COVID-19 swab testing in Italy, claiming that it is not in line with that in other countries worldwide.MethodsIn this paper, we attempt to clarify the aspects of COVID-19 fatalities and testing in Italy by performing a set of statistical analyses that highlight the actual numbers in Italy and compare them with official worldwide data.ResultsThe analysis clearly shows that the Italian COVID-19 fatality and mortality rates are in line with the official world scenario, as are the numbers of COVID-19 tests performed in Italy and in the Lombardy region.ConclusionsThis up-to-date analysis may elucidate the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

COVID-19 in Italy: impact of containment measures and prevalence estimates of infection in the general population.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy, the Italian Government implemented several restrictive measures to contain the spread of the infection. Data shows that, among these measures, the lockdown implemented as of 9 March had a positive impact, in particular the central and southern regions of Italy, while other actions appeared to be less effective. When the true prevalence of a disease is unknown, it is possible estimate it, based on mortality data and the assumptive case-fatality rate of the disease. Given these assumptions, the estimated period-prevalence of COVID-19 in Italy varies from 0.35% in Sicily to 13.3% in Lombardy.

Reshaping Electricity Demand During COVID-19 Containment Measures

The New Zealand government introduced strict containment measures in response to the Covid-19 virus. We assess the impact of containment measures on wholesale electricity demand using the augmented auto-regressive-moving-average model. The Alert Level-4 lockdown had the largest, significant and negative effect on electricity demand compared to other containment level measures. Alert Level 4 resulted in a 15.5 % reduction in wholesale electricity demand. Structural breaks in the data are evident as containment progressed to Alert Level 1.