Impact Of Lockdown Measures Research Articles

Impact of Lockdown Measures on Joint Music Making: Playing Online and Physically Together.

A wide range of countries decided to go into lockdown to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020, a setting separating people and restricting their movements. We investigated how musicians dealt with this sudden restriction in mobility. Responses of 234 people were collected. The majority of respondents (95%) resided in Belgium or the Netherlands. Results indicated a decrease of 79% of live music making in social settings during lockdown compared with before lockdown. In contrast, an increase of 264% was demonstrated for online joint music making. However, results showed that most respondents were largely or even completely unaccustomed with specialized platforms for online joint music making (e.g., JamKazam, Jamulus). Respondents reported to mostly use well-known video-conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Skype when playing together virtually. However, when such video-conferencing platforms were used, they were often not employed for synchronized playing and were generally reported to insufficiently deal with latency issues. Furthermore, respondents depending on music making as their main source of income explored online real-time methods significantly more than those relying on other income sources. Results also demonstrated an increase of 93% in the use of alternative remote joint music-making methods (e.g., recording parts separately and subsequently circulating these digital recordings). All in all, results of this study provide a more in-depth view on joint music making during the first weeks of lockdown induced by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, and demonstrate users’ perceptions of performance and usability of online real-time platforms as well as alternative methods for musical interaction.

Economic and environmental benefits of 3-wheeler electric vehicles during covid-19: A case study of Rajshahi, Bangladesh

This paper provides an insight into the labour market impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in Bangladesh, focusing on Rajshahi City Corporation. A survey was built to collect data about job switching nature before and during the crisis to shed light on the implications of COVID-19 on employment and earnings. The findings presented here indicate substantial labour market impacts both at the extensive and intensive margin, mainly due to the nature of the crisis's occupations. And the sufferers switch their jobs to 3-wheeler EVs industry as a driver or mechanic. Bus helper job was the most susceptible job during the pandemic, followed by garments. Due to the countrywide lockdown, emissions from vehicles were restricted, it was found that the air quality has been improved throughout the country during the lockdown. And 3-wheeler electric vehicles play a vital role to ease this issue. The study also assesses the impact of lockdown measures on air quality in Rajshahi. Four different air pollutants data from the google earth engine (NO2, SO2, CO, and O3) were analyzed. The study evaluated that the lockdown measures significantly reduced air pollution because of reduced vehicular and industrial emissions in Bangladesh.

How COVID-19 lockdown measures could impact patients with bulimia nervosa: Exploratory results from an ongoing experience sampling method study

IntroductionPreliminary results indicate that COVID-19 lockdown measures could lead to an increase in eating disorder pathology. However, some patients could be more vulnerable to experience such an increase than others. The reason why some patients are more susceptible to the impact of lockdown measures is still not known.ObjectivesTo analyze the impact of the Belgian COVID-19 lockdown measures on the surroundings, social context, negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA) and binge eating frequency of patients with bulimia nervosa (BN).Methods The data of 15 female patients with BN from an ongoing experience sampling method study were analyzed. Mixed effects models compared surroundings, social context, NA, PA and binge eating before and after the implementation of the lockdown measures.Results After the implementation of the lockdown measures, significant changes in surroundings and social context were found as well as an increase in NA (p < 0.001) and decrease in PA (p = 0.015). Patients who experienced an increase in binge eating frequency also experienced a stronger increase in NA (p = 0.012) and decrease in PA (p = 0.026) after the lockdown measures were implemented.ConclusionsFuture research should also look at changes in surroundings, social context, affect and how these interact with factors such as personality traits and coping styles when investigating why some patients are more susceptible to the negative effects of lockdown measures than others.

Birds seen and not seen during the COVID-19 pandemic: The impact of lockdown measures on citizen science bird observations

In early 2020, the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led multiple countries to introduce strict lockdown measures to contain the pandemic. Movement restrictions may have influenced the ability of the public to contribute to citizen science projects. We investigated how stay-at-home orders affected data submitted by birdwatchers in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom (UK) to a widely-used citizen science platform, iNaturalist, depending on whether observations were collected in urban or non-urban areas. We found significant trends in the daily number of observations in all three countries, indicating a surge in urban observation during lockdowns. We found an increase in the mean daily number of urban observations during the lockdown in Italy and Spain, compared to previous years. The mean daily number of non-urban observations decreased in Italy and Spain, while remained similar to previous years in the UK. We found a general decrease of new records during the lockdowns both in urban and non-urban areas in all countries. Our results suggest that the citizen science community remained active during the lockdowns and kept reporting birds from home. However, limitations to movements may have hampered the possibility of birdwatchers to explore natural areas and collect new records. Our findings suggest that future research and conservation applications of citizen science data should carefully consider the bias and gaps in data series caused by the pandemic. Furthermore, our study highlights the potential of urban areas for nature activities, such as birdwatching, and its relevance for sustainable urban planning.

Impact of Lockdown Measures and Meteorological Parameters on the COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality Rate in Bangladesh.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a public health crisis and a global catastrophe for human societies. In the absence of a vaccine, non-pharmaceutical interventions have been implemented across the world to reduce COVID-19 transmission. Recently, several studies have articulated the influence of meteorological parameters on COVID-19 infections in several countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of lockdown measures and meteorological parameters on COVID-19 daily confirmed cases and deaths in Bangladesh. Different parameters, such as case fatality rate, recovery rate, number of polymerase chain reaction tests, and percentages of confirmed cases were calculated for data covering March to September 2020. The meteorological data include daily average temperature, humidity, and wind speed, and their effects on COVID-19 data were analyzed after 0, 3, 7, and 14 days. A linear regression analysis revealed that all the studied meteorological parameters were positively correlated with the daily new cases and deaths in Bangladesh, while the highest correlations were observed for the 14 days incubation period. These results provide useful implications for the healthcare authorities to contain the pandemic in Bangladesh and beyond.

COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact of Lockdown Measures on Emergency Department Presentations to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Singapore

Introduction: COVID-19 has affected healthcare systems worldwide. We aim to analyse the impact of the pandemic and ‘lockdown’ measures on the services of a tertiary hospital emergency department (ED) in Singapore. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at the Singapore General Hospital ED, examining visit characteristics, demographics and diagnoses during ‘lockdown’ (7 April to 1 June 2020) comparing it with the same calendar period in 2019. Results: The median number of daily ED visits reduced significantly from 342 (IQR 322-358) to 256 (IQR 246-290) during ‘lockdown’. However, the number of ‘fever’ cases increased by 37 (95% CI 113-132) visits a day, contributing a much higher proportion of total visits during ‘lockdown’ (22% vs 2·7%; p <0·001). ED visits per day for ‘clean’ cases fell by 123 (95% CI 113-132). The proportion of inpatient admissions and length of inpatient stay increased (53% vs 48% and 4 [IQR 2-7] vs 3 [IQR 2-6] days respectively; p <0·001). There were significantly smaller proportions of cases of diarrhea, gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and alcohol intoxication, with no significant change for life-threatening conditions such as acute coronary syndromes and stroke. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic and ‘lockdown’ measures have led to decreased ED attendances. Potential reasons include fear of nosocomial infections, but also positive externalities from ‘lockdown’ measures. Surge in ‘fever’ cases and reduction in efficiency is expected. Timely and adequate public messaging, imposition of regulations, ensuring surge capacity and robust resource management are important aspects in managing these changes in characteristics of ED attendances during a pandemic. Funding Information: There was no funding source required for this study. Declaration of Interests: All authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: SingHealth Centralized Institutional Review Board approved this study and waived the requirement for participants to provide consent (CIRB Ref: 2020/2684).

Emerging Investigator Series: COVID-19 lockdown effects on aerosol particle size distributions in northern Italy.

The lockdown measures implemented to curb the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy reduced human mobility dramatically, which resulted in a marked decline in traffic intensity. In this study, we present the effect of lockdown measures on several air pollutants, particle number size distribution as well as on regional new particle formation (NPF) frequency in the Po Valley (northern Italy). The results show that during the lockdown period, concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO), benzene (C6H6), and toluene (C7H8) decreased, while ozone (O3) concentrations mildly increased as compared to the corresponding period in 2016–2019. Unlike gaseous pollutants, particulate matter mass concentrations (PM2.5 and PM10) showed no significant changes. The impact of lockdown measures on particle number size distributions were also quite limited. During the lockdown period, the number concentrations of 10–25 and 25–50 nm primary particles were reduced by 66% and 34%, respectively, at the regional background site (Ispra) but surprisingly there was no difference during and after lockdown at the urban background site (Modena). Conversely, the NPF frequency was exceptionally high, 70%, in Modena during the lockdown as compared to values (22–26%) observed for the same period in 2006 and 2009, while NPF frequency in Ispra only slightly increased compared to the same period in 2016–2019. The particle growth rates, however, were slightly lower during the lockdown at both sites compared to other periods. The study shows that a drastic decrease in traffic had little influence on particulate pollution levels in the Po Valley, suggesting that other sources and processes also have a prominent impact on particle number and particulate matter mass concentration in this region.

Impact of Lockdown Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Number and Nature of Trauma Presentations to Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of a Level I Trauma Center—A Study

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered unprecedented nationwide regulations aimed primarily at slowing the spread of the virus. The objective of this study was to describe the effect of these regulations on the number and natures of trauma presentations to oral and maxillofacial department of level I trauma center in the city of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of the triage register at Trauma Centre of King George Medical University, Lucknow was conducted, comparing all trauma presentations from March 23, 2020 to July 31, 2020 with those from the preceding 5 months. The number of patients, mechanism of trauma, and severity of illness was recorded and compared. Results: A reduction in the number of trauma cases was recorded for the particular period. The statistical analysis was done with SPSS software (version 1.1). The incidence of maxillofacial trauma was more in males than females. During the study period, data shows that road traffic accidents (91.68%) was the most common cause of trauma followed by fall from height (4.06%) and physical assault (2.34%), respectively. The most common injury was soft tissue lacerations (38.07%), followed by hard tissue injury (LeFort: 20.6%, zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures: 9.44%, parasymphysis: 8.02%), respectively. Conclusion: This study shows that the burden of trauma presenting to the emergency department was decreased during lockdown period by the regulations implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact of Lockdown Measures during COVID-19 Pandemic on Water Vapors in Subtemperate and Subtropical Zones of Jammu Region, Jammu &amp; Kashmir Union Territory, India

Aim: To evaluate the effect of lockdown amid COVID 19 pandemic on water vapors in atmosphere under subtemperate and subtropical zones of Jammu region.&#x0D; Methodology: To study the variation in atmospheric chemistry, the data was analyzed on fortnightly basis in order to assess the water vapor presence in the atmosphere during complete lockdown, i.e. from 24th March to 17th May 2020. The data of Temperature and Relative Humidity were recorded from Agrometeorological Observatory situated at respective locations under study. The water vapor attributing parameters were calculated by adopting different formulae.&#x0D; Results: The analysis of weather data was done by adopting different statistical techniques and it was found that ambient temperature was below normal with a deviation of -5.99% and -3.69% under subtropical and subtemperate zone. With the downshifting pattern observed in temperature, the density of air also decreased with deviation of -0.29% in subtropical zone and -0.46 % in subtemperate zone. The relative humidity, mixing ratio and dew point temperature under subtropical conditions were increased by 8.19, 1.03 and 1.61% respectively, while under subtemperate zone the parameters increased by 3.98, 4.51 and 10.3% respectively. The saturated mixing ratio, enthalpy and absolute humidity were deviated by -4.53%, -5.45 and -1.50% in subtropical zone and 5.94, 6.62 and 8.28 % in subtemperate zone.&#x0D; Conclusion: Variable significant patterns were observed for each parameter and thus it can be concluded that lockdown had a plausible impact on all humidity or water vapor attributes.

Impact of lockdown measures in abating the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from India’s phased approach

BackgroundWorld Health Organization (WHO) declared that the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020 and characterized the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. India enacted such measures early on for effective mitigation and suppression to reduce community transmission, including an onerous national lockdown. The impact of the health system governance is quite apparent among all stakeholders including the public in such emergency contexts.MethodsWe compiled the daily data on the number of COVID-19 cases, recoveries and deaths from January 30th until June 16th, 2020. Different stages were categorized from post PHEIC declaration (pre-lockdown) phase to lockdown phases and unlocking phase as implemented. The several measures adopted by the national government were structured in four broad categories as Governance and socioeconomic, travel restrictions, lockdown and public health measures. These measures were compared during each phase.ResultsIt was revealed that while the cases are rising the phased restrictions has helped in delaying the peak and remarkably interrupted the rate of transmission. The national average doubling rate was 3 days at the beginning which improved to 22 days. The basic reproduction number remained close to 1 during the last week of lockdown. However, the initial interruption of needed aid and technical support had negative social and economic impacts on the affected population.ConclusionsAs the situation abates following the measures adopted by the government, an articulate strategy of unlocking through increased testing and prompt isolation needs to be developed for more effective reduction and protecting the livelihoods allowing to further relax the lockdown measures.Key messages There is need for the local government to consider a strategic easing of the lockdown for protecting the rights of the most affected population.As the transmission rates are low, the easing of lockdown can be benefited from improved testing and prompt isolation.

Impact of lockdown measures during COVID-19 on air quality– A case study of India

ABSTRACT A novel infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) identified in late 2019 has now been labelled as a global pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO). The COVID-19 outbreak has shown some positive impacts on the natural environment. In present work, India is taken as a case study to evaluate the effect of lockdown on air quality of three Indian cities. The variation in concentration of key air pollutants including , , , and during two phases, pre-lockdown and post-lockdown phases, was analysed. The concentration of , , and reduced by 55%, 49%, 60% and 19%, and 44%, 37%, 78% and 39% for Delhi and Mumbai, respectively, during post-lockdown phase. Overall, the findings in present study may provide confidence to the stakeholders involved in air quality policy development that a significant improvement in air quality can be achieved in future if better pollution control plans are strictly executed.

Prisons confinées : quelles conséquences pour les soins psychiatriques et la santé mentale des personnes détenues en France ?

ObjectiveThe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the 11 million people currently incarcerated worldwide is the subject of many concerns. Prisons and jails are filled with people suffering from many preexisting medical conditions increasing the risk of complications. Detainees’ access to medical services is already limited and overcrowding poses a threat of massive contagion. Beyond the health impact of the crisis, the tightening of prison conditions worries. On March 16, 2020, in France, the lockdown measures have been accompanied by specific provisions for prisons: all facilities have suspended visitations, group activities and external interventions. Over 10,000 prisoners have been released to reduce the prison population and the risk of virus propagation. These adjustments had major consequences on the healthcare system in French prisons. The objectives of this article are to describe the reorganization of the three levels of psychiatric care for inmates in France in the context of Covid-19 pandemic and to have a look at the impact of lockdown measures and early releases on mental health of prisoners. MethodsThis work is based on a survey conducted in April 2020 in France among psychiatric healthcare providers working in 42 ambulatory units for inmates and in the 9 full-time inpatient psychiatric wards exclusively for inmates called “UHSAs” (which stands for “unités hospitalières spécialement aménagées”, and can be translated as “specially equipped hospital units”). A review of the international literature on mental healthcare system for inmates during the Covid-19 epidemic has also been performed. ResultsThe Covid-19 epidemic has been rather contained during the period of confinement in French prisons but the impact of confinement measures on the prison population is significant. The three levels of psychiatric care for inmates have implemented specific measures to ensure continuity of care, to support detainees during Coronavirus lockdown and to prevent an infection's spread. Among the most important are: limitation of medical consultations to serious and urgent cases, creation of “Covid units”, cancellation of voluntary psychiatric hospitalizations, reinforcement of preventive hygiene measures and reshuffling of medical staff. Prolonged confinement has consequences on mental health of detainees. Currently, mental health workers are facing multiple clinical situations such as forced drug and substance withdrawal (linked to difficulties in supplying psychoactive substances), symptoms of anxiety (due to concerns for their own and their relatives’ well-being) and decompensation among patients with severe psychiatric conditions. Early releases from prison may also raise some issues. People recently released from prison are identified as at high risk of death by suicide and drug overdose. The lack of time to provide the necessary link between health services within prisons and health structures outside could have serious consequences, emphasizing the well-known “revolving prison doors” effect. DiscussionThe current lockdown measures applied in French jails and prisons point out the disparities between psychiatric care for inmates and psychiatric care for general population. Giving the high vulnerability of prison population, public health authorities should pay more attention to health care in prisons.

COVID-19, Grippewellen und \xf6konomische Aktivit\xe4t \u2014 die Perspektive der Wirkungsanalyse

ZusammenfassungDie öffentliche Diskussion zur Corona-Krise nimmt an Schärfe zu. Dabei stehen die Letalitätsrate sowie die Wirkungen staatlicher Maßnahmen in Hinblick auf ihre epidemiologischen und ökonomischen Wirkungen im Mittelpunkt. Der Streit ließe sich klären, wenn man an randomisierte, kontrollierte Studien angelehnte Wirkungsanalysen durchführen könnte. Dies ist mangels Kontrollgruppe aber nicht möglich. So ist eine weiter zunehmende Polarisierung zu erwarten, gerade wenn die Todeszahlen niedrig bleiben.

COVID-19 and Air Pollution in Indian Cities: World’s Most Polluted Cities

In the present study, pollutants levels from 24th March-31st May in 2020 were compared with the same time period in 2019 to estimate the impact of lockdown on air pollutants levels in 39 different cities of India (including 10 Indian cities considered among the world’s 20 most polluted cities). Data for air pollutants was obtained from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) which was statistically analyzed. Tropospheric NO2 column retrieved from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) were compared between 2019 and 2020 to compare the NO2 levels. Impact of lockdown measures on Ghaziabad which is the world’s most polluted city and Patiala which showed maximum reduction during the lockdown period in the present study was studied in detail. After the implementation of lockdown measures, air pollution decreased but with substantial variation among pollutants. The most significant reduction was observed for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) (3–79%) and carbon monoxide (CO) (2–61%), pollutants which are mainly related to traffic emissions. Ozone (O3) showed a mixed trend with increasing levels at some cities which may be attributed to lower titration of O3 by NO. Maximum reduction observed in PM10 and PM2.5 was 58 and 57%, respectively during the lockdown period in 2020 as compared to the previous year. Air quality of the cities also improved in 2020. During the lockdown period in 2020, AQI of only 15% of cities was in the ‘Unhealthy’ category (151–200) while in 2019, 56% of cities were in the ‘Unhealthy’ category. In Ghaziabad and Patiala all the pollutants showed significant reduction after lockdown implementation except O3. Diurnal patterns of PM10, PM2.5, CO and NO2 showed lower values during lockdown period in 2020 with less distinct bimodal patterns as compared to 2019. The present study provides evidence that widespread implementation of air pollution measures can result in immediate air quality benefits.

Place de la céphalée dans le syndrome post commotionnel

L’objectif est de comprendre les changements au sein des familles durant le confinement motivé par la pandémie de la COVID-19 et explorer le vécu psychoaffectif des enfants et de leurs parents face à cette situation.Il s’agit d’une enquête en ligne anonyme avec méthodologie associant des analyses quantitatives et qualitatives. Les questions ciblaient plusieurs thèmes tels que le contexte de vie, le vécu émotionnel et les répercussions sur les habitudes quotidiennes chez les enfants et adolescents, tels que perçus par les parents.Au total, 439 parents ont répondu au questionnaire. Les familles sont globalement restées dans leur lieu de vie habituel et ont réussi à bien s’adapter. En moyenne, le niveau d’inquiétude des enfants (estimé par les parents) était moins élevé que celui que les parents s’attribuent. L’état psychologique des enfants et adolescents était globalement stable mais pour ceux qui ont vécu davantage d’émotions négatives que d’habitude, il s’agissait d’une augmentation de l’ennui, de l’irritabilité et de la colère. Une baisse de la qualité de sommeil a aussi été constatée par un tiers des répondants. En revanche, une progression de l’autonomie a été soulignée. Les parents ont aussi rapporté une amélioration des relations familiales, mais aux dépens des liens sociaux habituels induisant un sentiment de privation.Malgré des émotions négatives ressenties chez certains enfants, le confinement a permis de développer de nouvelles ressources dans la plupart des familles. Certains facteurs rapportés, tels que le renforcement des liens, pourraient être des facteurs protecteurs et constituent de bonnes pistes dans les interventions à proposer aux enfants et leur famille.The aim of this study is to understand the changes within families during confinement motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the psycho-emotional experiences of children and their parents in this new situation. Confinement necessarily induced significant changes in daily family routines, particularly for work, education, leisure and social activities. In the more vulnerable pediatric population, several authors have warned of the need to consider the impact of lockdown measures during COVID-19 on the psychological impact and well-being.This is an anonymous online survey with methodology combining quantitative and qualitative analyses. The questions targeted several themes such as life context, emotional experience and the impact on daily habits in children and adolescents, as perceived by parents. Participants are adults and parents of at least one child. They were recruited through social media and email.A total of 439 parents responded to the questionnaire. The families generally stayed in their usual place of residence and managed to adapt well. On average, the children's level of worry (as estimated by parents) was lower than the level of worry parents attributed to themselves. For the majority, the parents did not observe any change, the psychological state of the children and adolescents was generally stable, but for those who experienced more negative emotions than usual, it was an increase in boredom, irritability and anger. A decrease in the quality of sleep was also observed by a third of the respondents. On the other hand, an increase in autonomy was noted. Regarding the quality of family cohabitation, an important result showed that confinement had improved family relationships for 41% parents but at the expense of usual social ties inducing a feeling of deprivation. Indeed, the participants evoke a lack of “social link” and “social contact with friends”. Lack became synonymous with absence, a feeling of loneliness and separation.Our results confirm European and international data collected in children in countries where strict lockdown measures have been applied. Despite the negative emotions felt in some children, confinement has helped develop new resources in most families. Families seem to have been successful in maintaining a stable and secure routine which has certainly been a protective factor against anxiety. Some reported factors, such as bonding, could be protective factors and constitute good leads in interventions to be offered to children and their families.