Lockdown Period Research Articles

Digital musicianship in post-pandemic popular music education

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about dramatic changes in popular music education, underscoring the importance of technology in both practice and transmission. Nevertheless, the celebration of technological integration as a one-stop solution has led to some challenges remaining overlooked and unsolved, resulting in an increasing mismatch between popular music education and the growth of online musical engagement among young people. Framed by the notion of digital musicianship, this position paper presents an overview of the adoption of technology in popular music education within the lockdown period, in the process raising concerns about whether such revisions can adequately address the challenges faced by popular music education. This leads to a discussion of a potential revamp of digital musicianship as a response to the continued and expanding presence of technology within popular music education and the post-pandemic teaching and learning environment. The authors assert that digital musicianship should encompass learners’ ability to perceive and adopt technologies for online and remote music-making, and critically evaluate their validity and quality in various contexts. Additionally, there is a need to critically address the homogeneity of musical cultures and technological determinism embedded within the design of music technology, alongside tackling the issues of inequality and accessibility.

Sexual Satisfaction in a Sample of Italian Women during the COVID-19 Lockdown Period

This study explored the relationships among psychological, relational, and sexual factors and their impact on sexual satisfaction among Italian women during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were collected via an online survey with 3803 participants. The survey assessed mental health, relationship quality, frequency of sexual intercourse, frequency of masturbation, body awareness, and sexual satisfaction. Correlation analyses revealed positive relationships among all the variables and negative relationships with low mental health. A network analysis showed that sexual satisfaction was the most central variable, strongly linked to relationship quality, frequency of sexual intercourse, and body awareness. An exploratory mediation model examined the indirect effects of mental health and frequency of masturbation on sexual satisfaction through the other variables as mediators. The results indicated that mental health negatively influenced sexual satisfaction both directly and indirectly through relationship quality and body awareness, while frequency of masturbation had a positive indirect effect through body awareness. These findings highlight the complex interplay among mental health, body awareness, relational factors, and sexual satisfaction, emphasizing the importance of holistic approaches in enhancing sexual well-being. Future research should focus on longitudinal studies to establish causality and explore interventions that promote positive body awareness and relationship quality.

Does COVID-19 lockdown matter for air pollution in the short and long run in China? A machine learning approach to policy evaluation

This paper leverages a data-driven two-step approach to effectively evaluate the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on air pollution in both the short and long-term in China. Using air pollution, meteorological conditions, and air mass clusters from 34 air quality monitoring stations in Beijing from 2015 to 2022, this study first employs a deweathering machine learning technique to decouple the confounding effects of meteorological on the air pollution. Furthermore, a detrending percentage change indictor is applied to remove the influence of seasonal variations on air pollution. The findings reveal that: (1) Human interventions are the primary drivers of changes in air pollution concentrations, whereas meteorological factors have a relatively minor impact. (2) During the COVID-19 lockdown, significant variations in air pollution levels are observed, with the effects of city lockdown ranging from a decrease of 40.11% ± 14.81% to an increase of 20.28% ± 14.36%. Notably, there is a decline in concentrations of NO2, PM2.5, CO, and PM10, while the levels of O3 and SO2 increase even during the strictest lockdown period. (3) In the year following the COVID-19 lockdown, there is a rebound in overall air pollution levels. However, by the second year, a general decline in air pollution is observed, except for O3. Therefore, it is imperative to integrate the confounding effects of meteorological factors into air quality management policies under various future scenarios: adopt high-intensity control measures for sudden air quality deteriorations, advance green recovery initiatives for long-term emission reductions, and coordinate efforts to reduce composite atmospheric pollution.

Impact of Lockdowns on Air Pollution: Case Studies of Two Periods in 2022 in Guangzhou, China

The photochemical mechanisms of ozone (O3) formation are complex, and simply reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions is insufficient to reduce O3 concentrations. The lockdown due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provided a rare opportunity to explore the mechanisms of O3 formation and evaluate the performance of NOx emission control strategies through practical observations. This study integrates data from ground stations with observations from the TROPOMI sensor on the Sentinel-5P satellite to analyze air quality changes during the two one-month lockdown periods in Guangzhou, China, in March and November 2022. Our analysis particularly focuses on the impact of these lockdowns on O3 and NO2 concentrations, along with shifts in the sensitivity of ozone formation. Furthermore, we have assessed concentration changes of four major pollutants: PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and CO. The results show that the average O3 concentration in Guangzhou decreased during the March lockdown, while the average O3 concentration at three stations in the western part of Guangzhou increased during the November lockdown. The western part of Guangzhou is a VOCs (volatile organic compounds)-limited zone, and the NO2 emission reduction from the lockdown reduced the titration effect on O3, which led to the increase in O3 concentration. Overall, the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on O3 concentrations depended on the local O3 producing sensitive system, and emissions of other major pollutants were reduced substantially, as reported in many other cities around the world.

Educational Poverty and Deprivation: Attitudes and the Role of Teachers during the Pandemic

Educational poverty is widespread in compulsory education in terms of poor learning and socio-cultural disadvantages; it affects students with disabilities, students with learning difficulties, and those with an immigrant background. During the pandemic crisis, students with special educational needs (SENs) mostly suffered the risk of an additional deprivation. Within an advanced inclusive model during school closure, the Italian State guaranteed access to schools only to students with disabilities. What effects did this “equalizing” measure produce? What kinds of attitudes have teachers adopted and what roles have they played (active vs. passive) in order to make it sustainable? What was their acknowledgement of the educational poverty and deprivation? To what extent were their attitudes differentiated? This article explores the roles and attitudes of teachers during periods of lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. We assume that the teachers’ attitudes were differentiated on the basis of five cultural dimensions (auto/hetero-referencing; vision of remote teaching; relationship with bureaucracy, relationships with students; teaching as performance or relation), and two functions (classroom teachers/ SENs teachers). The study is based on 42 semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers, principals, and parents in six lower secondary public schools with high rates of SENs students and multi-ethnicity (Northern Italy), and focused on the organisational, teaching, and relational aspects. Results seem to confirm that not all teachers agreed with the Ministry line and adopted a range of responses to the challenge of maintaining inclusivity, from the inert/impatient to the creative/active ones. Their attitudes changed during the post-pandemic period from atomistic to more collaborative, and their preoccupation with the fragile “uncertified students” increased. The article closes with recommendations on teacher training.

Exploring Air Quality Dynamics and Predictive Modeling by Using Artificial Intelligence During COVID-19 Lock Down Over the Western Part of India

The lockdown period, initially imposed for three months due to the COVID-19 outbreak in India, was later prolonged. Air quality data from eight monitoring sites in Rajasthan was used to calculate the AQI according to the following parameters: Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ammonia (NH3), Sulfur dioxide (SO2), Ozone (O3), and Carbon monoxide (CO), dispersed throughout the state by CPCB. Among the chosen cities, the study found that the AQI percentage dropped the most in Alwar, by 35.6% between pre-lockdown and lockdown. Conversely, it rose the most in Jaipur, by 86.77% between lockdown and post-lockdown. Python deep learning was used to simulate the relationship between Air Quality Index and Air contamination in the study area. Air quality index values ranging from Good (0–50) to Severe (>401) were used to create the AQI class categorization in Python. The study found that PM2.5 and PM10 had the strongest correlation. Metrics such as the coefficient of determination (R2) and the root mean square error (RMSE) were applied to assess the model on the datasets used for training and testing. Random forest, decision trees, and linear regression were worked to verify the precision of the prototype. The author used supervised learning techniques, such as decision tree (DT), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), logistic regression (LR), and random forest (RF), to determine the model's prediction. These findings suggest that urban areas are characterized by societal, commercial, and cultural aspects that contribute to similar discharge patterns and air quality issues. The study would be advantageous for authorities, as it is clearly apparent that reducing the sources of emissions can improve quality. This will set the stage for safeguarding and improving the environment.

Help‐seeking and access to care for stroke and heart attack during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative study

AbstractIn this article we explore how people who experienced a stroke, transient ischaemic attack, or heart attack sought health care during the COVID‐19 lockdown periods. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 27 patients admitted to hospital between March 2020 and May 2021, and one carer who was recruited from cardiac and stroke rehabilitation services in two large acute NHS trusts in England. Drawing on concepts of candidacy, illness and moral work, we discuss how people’s sense‐making about their symptoms fundamentally shaped both their decisions about seeking help and the impact of COVID‐19 on help seeking. Risk perception and interactional ritual chain theory allow further exploration of constructing symbols of national identity in times of crises, managing risk and levels of acceptable risk and critique of ambiguous national messaging over accessing health‐care services for people with emergency health‐care needs. Our findings have wider implications for supporting access into health care for those with life‐threatening conditions under highly publicised strain on the health system, including winter pressure and staff strikes, as well as policymaking and public messaging.

Hispanic Cancer Survivors Exposed to Multiple Natural Disasters: Pre-Post-Disaster Changes in Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, Perceived Stress, and Physical Symptom Burden.

Studies evaluating the effects of natural disasters on cancer outcomes are scarce, especially among USA ethnic minority groups, and none have focused on the effects of concurrent natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this secondary data analysis is to explore the impact of concurrent exposure to COVID-19 and earthquakes on psychological distress and symptom burden among Puerto Rican cancer survivors. This secondary data analysis (n = 101) was part of a longitudinal case-control cohort study (n = 402) aimed at describing unmet psychological needs among Puerto Rican cancer patients and non-cancer subjects previously exposed to Hurricane María in 2017. The research team pooled data from participants (cancer survivors and non-cancer group) from their baseline assessments and from follow-up assessments conducted during January-July 2020 (earthquake and the lockdown period). A descriptive, paired t-test, non-parametric mean rank test, and two-sided Pearson correlation analyses were performed. Psychological distress and cancer symptom burden diminished over time. Resilience was significantly correlated with all the psychological and symptom burden variables during both pre- and post-earthquake and COVID-19 assessment periods. The results support the role of resilience, social support, and post-traumatic growth as potential protective factors preventing psychological distress and diminishing cancer symptom burden among cancer survivors exposed to natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Problems and prospects of hybrid learning in higher education

ABSTRACT This study was initiated at a time of unprecedented uncertainty, as lecturers and educational institutions across the world tried to manage the move to online education as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It started with lecturers’ perspectives of their performance during that time to identify innovative teaching strategies beyond the priority of emergency teaching. The main goal was to identify the occurrence of more permanent changes in Higher Education after the pandemic. The research was based on a qualitative approach where faculty members were interviewed about their activities before, during and after lockdown periods. Data collected was analysed with the help of an algorithm based on Artificial Intelligence. Ultimately, it was possible to gather and evaluate practical solutions related to hybrid learning in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, leading to recommendations for stakeholders in Higher Education.

Effect of COVID-19 global lockdown on our Moon

Abstract Systematic investigation of lunar night-time temperatures can possibly be thought as a stable platform to study Earth's radiation budget and climate change as advocated earlier by several researchers. In this study, we report an interesting observation possibly of changing Earth's climate as experienced by the Moon, utilising a rare and novel context of COVID-19 global lockdown. Lunar night-time surface temperatures of six different sites on the Moon's nearside were analysed during the period 2017–2023. Results showed an anomalous dip in the lunar night time surface temperatures for all the sites during April-May 2020, the strict COVID-19 global lockdown period, when compared to the values of the same period during the previous and subsequent years. Since the terrestrial radiation has also showed a significant reduction during that time, the anomalous decrease observed in lunar surface temperatures is attributed to the COVID 19 global lockdown effect. Therefore, our study shows that the Moon has possibly experienced the effect of COVID 19 lockdown, visualised as an anomalous decrease in lunar night-time surface temperatures during that period. These results can be substantiated further from Moon-based observatories in future, thereby making them potential tools for observing Earth's environmental and climate changes.

Spatiotemporal distribution of air quality dynamics and health risks study during 2019–2021 lockdown in urban and industrial cities of West Bengal, India

Globally, air pollution is the second most common cause of mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), after tobacco smoking. Breathing polluted air has potential to cause a diverse array of health problems. This study comprehensively investigates the health risk of different areas of the population mainly industrial and urban belt by using AIRQ + health risk assessment model. This study also analyzes the spatiotemporal distribution of air quality in industrial and urban areas and correlation study was conducted between air pollutants and meteorological factors with episodic influences mainly lockdown phases. In Kolkata, Howrah, Asansol and Siliguri, the average Air quality index (AQI) varied from satisfactory (51–100) to moderate (101–200) values. The poor (201−300) to very poor (301−400) air quality observed in January, February, November and December month of the year. The higher AQI observed in the study area in winter season as compared to summer season. In the lockdown period overall air quality was improved. The meteorological factors, including rainfall and temperature played a crucial role in influencing air quality in this area. The regression analysis indicates a significant negative association between temperature and the following pollutants: PM2.5 (β = − 4.91, p < 0.01), PM10 (β = − 8.27, p < 0.01), NO2 (β = − 2.10, p < 0.01), NOx (β = − 4.05, p < 0.01), CO (β = − 0.04, p < 0.01), and SO2 (β = − 0.45, p < 0.01). The number of attributable cases of long-term PM2.5 exposure mortality due to lung cancer, stroke, IHD and COPD in four cities were 1132, 3969, 4381 and 974 in Kolkata; 1454, 4913, 5327 and 1221 in Howrah; 154, 531, 581 and 131 for Asansol; 137, 474, 520 and 117 in Siliguri respectively. IHD is the leading cause for mortality in the study area. The long-term effects of PM10 such as chronic bronchitis in adults and post-neonatal infant mortality were 30,860 and 738,450 in Kolkata, 53,961 and 898,920 in Howrah, 3782 and 89,460 in Asansol, and 3293 and 76,331 in Siliguri respectively. These study findings help policymakers, stakeholders and governments to take early action to reduce the effects of air pollution and implement interventions for the well-being of the population.

Poetry: Therapeutic Functions and Effects on Youth Mental Well-being in Post-COVID -19 Era in Nigeria

Poetry is a form of positive distraction for youths that can improve mental well-being. During stress, trauma, and grief, poetry writing helps put thoughts together. The COVID-19 lockdown period gave rise to many artistic expressions from the youth. This form of engagement continued during the post-COVID Period, which led to increased numbers of active participants in poetry writing and literary organizations activities in Nigeria. This paper examines the experiences of youth involved in poetry writing during and after the COVID lockdown in Nigeria. It also explores the perceived contribution of poetry writing to mental well-being of youth. However, there are young people who write poetry who died by suicide, using their poems as an outlet before their death. The study adopts a descriptive research design through a qualitative approach, and the data were sourced through secondary data and interviews. The theoretical framework for this paper is the social action theory. The research established that poetry is therapeutic in nature. It helps to deal with difficult circumstances. Youths interviewed associate positive feeling to poetry writing. But the research found that literary engagement and group activities contribute to mental well-being too. This study, thus, recommends that more scholarly attention should be directed to literary hubs and their contribution of mental well-being of youth.

Characteristics and Rates of Preterm Births During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany

Population-based analyses provided divergent data on the changes in preterm birth rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is a gap of knowledge on the variations in birth characteristics. To study changes in perinatal care, causes of preterm delivery, and very preterm (VPT; defined as <32 weeks' gestation) birth rates before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. This population-level cohort study used data from the quality assurance registry, which covers all births in Hesse, Germany. Deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) were compared with the corresponding grouped prepandemic time intervals (2017 to 2019). Analyses were executed between August 2023 and July 2024. Analyses were directed to study differences in preterm births before and during 3 pandemic phases: first (March 14 to May 15, 2020) and second (October 19 to December 31, 2020) lockdowns and a period of less-vigorous restrictions between them (May 16 to October 18, 2020). Outcomes of interest were variations in preterm birth rates in the context of baseline characteristics and causes of preterm births during vs before the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the total cohort of 184 827 births from 2017 to 2020, 719 stillbirths occurred and 184 108 infants were liveborn. Compared with the prepandemic period, medical care characteristics did not differ during the COVID-19 period. The odds of VPT births were lower during the pandemic period (odds ratio [OR], 0.87; 95% CI, 0.79-0.95) compared with the prepandemic period, with the greatest reduction observed during the second lockdown period (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.55-0.84). Reduction in VPT births was attributed to fewer births in pregnancies among individuals with a history of serious disease (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.50-0.83), pathologic cardiotocography (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53-0.82), and intrauterine infection (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72-0.92) while incidences of history of preterm birth, multiple pregnancies, serious or severe psychological distress, and preeclampsia, eclampsia, or hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count syndrome as cause for preterm delivery remained unchanged. In this population-based cohort study on the COVID-19 pandemic and preterm birth rates, the duration of exposure to mitigation measures during pregnancy was associated with accelerated reductions in preterm births. The findings of lower rates of baseline risks and causes of preterm deliveries support efforts to intensify health care prevention programs during pregnancy to reduce the preterm birth burden. These findings of this study put particular focus on hygiene measures to reduce the rate of deliveries for intrauterine infection and highlight the potential of expanding strategies to the different risks and causes of preterm delivery.

9 to 5 or a new‐normal? Cluster analysis of pre and post pandemic vehicle and cycle diurnal flow profiles

AbstractCommuting traffic associated with the “9 to 5” workday shaped the morning and evening peaks across the world. The COVID‐19 pandemic led to unprecedented changes in travel behaviour such as an increase in cyclists and telecommuting, where employees worked from home during lockdown periods. Transport modellers, planners and policy makers need to know whether the 9 to 5 has returned, or we have entered a “New‐normal” of more flexible working arrangements and increased cycling, key for delivering sustainability targets. In this research, the unsupervised machine learning technique k‐means clustering investigates temporal patterns across the day and week, comparing the pre‐ and post‐pandemic era across both motorised vehicles and bicycles. Results show that the total daily traffic flow has returned to pre‐pandemic volumes, but more spread across the day. Mondays and Fridays have less‐pronounced peaks compared to pre‐pandemic, having implications for air quality modelling and assessment, traffic management and transport planning. Meanwhile, cycling has increased in volume and the time‐of‐day people are travelling has changed. Policy makers need to consider whether the additional capacity on the road, brought about by reduced peak traffic, could be reallocated to make roads safer for and reduce delay to cyclists, contributing towards net zero goals.

Shifts in Paediatric Road Trauma Dynamics Pre- vs. Post-COVID-19 Lockdown: Insights from a Major Trauma Centre.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes globally, significantly affecting public health sectors, including paediatric road trauma. This study aims to explore the changes in paediatric road trauma presentations and outcomes before and after the COVID-19 lockdown. This retrospective study analysed paediatric trauma data from the Saudi TraumA Registry (STAR) from August 2017 to December 2022, comparing pre- and post-COVID-19 lockdown periods (August 2017-March 2020 and July 2020-December 2022, respectively). The study analysed demographic data, mechanism of injury, severity, ICU admissions, and mortality rates using multivariate logistic regression models. Out of 950 paediatric trauma cases analysed, there was an 44.2 [561/389 = 1.442] % increase in the number of cases post-lockdown. A significant shift was noted in the age group of 5-9 years, with cases increasing from post-lockdown. Head injuries were the most prevalent type of injury, with their proportion slightly increasing from 163 (20.5%) pre-lockdown to 248 (23.2%) post-lockdown. The ICU admission were consistent across both periods, while the definitive care mode of arrival post-lockdown showed a notable shift towards private or government ambulances. Our study provides critical insights into the significant impact of the COVID-19 on paediatric road trauma. The observed increase in trauma cases post-pandemic, particularly among younger children and a notable rise in driver-related injuries among adolescents, underscores the profound effect of lockdown measures and subsequent societal changes on paediatric health. Efforts to reduce paediatric traffic injuries require collaboration among parents, educators, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the community at large.

Measurement report: Characteristics of airborne black-carbon-containing particles during the 2021 summer COVID-19 lockdown in a typical Yangtze River Delta city, China

Abstract. Black-carbon-containing (BCc) particles are ubiquitous in ambient air, significantly contributing to particulate matter (PM) pollution. The unexpected outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2021 prompted a localized and prolonged lockdown in Yangzhou, situated in the Yangtze River Delta, China. This lockdown led to significant alteration of local anthropogenic emissions, while neighboring cities continued regular operations, providing a unique opportunity for the investigation of BCc particle characteristics influenced by varying emission conditions. Single-particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SPA-MS) analysis revealed a notable decrease in the proportion of freshly emitted BCc particles during the lockdown (LD) period. However, PM2.5 concentrations remained relatively unchanged, with an observed increase in the proportion of aged BCc particles during LD compared to the period before the lockdown (BLD). The study also underscores the significant role of regional transport in PM2.5 pollution during the campaign. Moreover, reactive trace gases (e.g., NOx, SO2, and volatile organic compounds – VOCs) could form thick coatings on pre-existing particles, likely via enhanced heterogeneous hydrolysis under high relative humidity (RH), resulting in significant BCc particle growth (∼ 600 nm), as well as PM2.5 concentration, during LD. Our study highlights that short-term, strict local emission controls may not effectively reduce PM pollution due to the complex production and transmission characteristics of BCc particles and the nonlinear responses of PM2.5 to its precursors. Achieving further effective PM2.5 reduction mandates a focus on nuanced control of BCc particles and necessitates a comprehensive and extensive approach with a regionally coordinated and balanced control strategy through joint regulation.

Falls in focus: an analysis of the rate of falls in 25 Australian residential aged care facilities from 2019 to 2021, pre- and during COVID-19 lockdowns

IntroductionDuring 2020–2021 Australia maintained comparatively low rates of COVID-19 in the community and residential aged care facilities (RAC) due to stringent public health measures such as lockdowns. However, the public health measures implemented may have had unintended impacts on critical RAC resident health outcomes, such as falls, due to routine care disruptions and aged care resident isolation. We utilised a longitudinal data to assess the association between COVID-19 lockdowns and the rate of falls in RAC settings.MethodsA longitudinal cohort study was conduct using routinely collected data from 25 RAC facilities from one non-profit aged care provider in Sydney, Australia. The study included 2,996 long term residents between March 2019 and March 2021. The outcome measures were all falls, injurious falls, and falls assessed as requiring hospitalisation. Generalised estimating equations (GEE) were applied to determine the association between COVID-19 lockdown periods and fall-related outcomes while adjusting for confounders and seasonality.ResultsDuring the study period 11,658 falls were recorded. Residents frequently experienced at least one fall during the study period (median: 1, interquartile range: 0–4). During Lockdown 1 (March-June 2020) the rate of all falls increased 32% (IRR 1.32, 95% CI 1.19–1.46, p < 0.01) and the rate of injurious falls increased by 28% (IRR 1.28, 95% CI 1.12–1.46, p < 0.01) compared to pre-pandemic rates. The rate of falls assessed as requiring hospitalisation remained unchanged during Lockdown 1 (IRR 1.07, 95% CI 0.86–1.32, p = 0.519). During Lockdown 2 (Dec 2020-Jan 2021) the rate of all falls, injurious falls, and falls assessed as requiring hospitalisation did not change significantly compared to pre-pandemic rates.ConclusionThese findings suggest that the consequences of stringent COVID-19 restrictions, as seen in Lockdown 1, produced changes in residents’ care which contributed to more falls and associated harm. The subsequent lockdown, which were less restrictive and occurred after staff had gained experience, was associated with no significant increase in falls rate. The nature and extent of lockdowns implemented for infection control in RAC need to balance multiple potential adverse effects. Factors which facilitated resilience during this period require exploration in future research.

The Psychological Impact of COVID-19: A Comparative Analysis of Pre-Lockdown and During-Lockdown Periods Among Saudi General Population.

Prior research has revealed substantial psychological impacts of COVID-19 among the general population. However, there is a noticeable gap in studies addressing the enduring anxiety levels before and during lockdown periods of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study assessed and compared the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic before and during lockdown periods among the general population in Saudi Arabia. A validated and reliable General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7 instrument was used to quantify stress levels by measuring anxiety. Nonprobability snowball sampling was used to collect data from 516 participants residing in Saudi Arabia. The difference in scores for each of the seven related questions of GAD-7 was determined using a non-parametric Wilcoxon rank test. A mild level of anxiety was consistently observed both before and during the lockdown, as indicated by GAD-7 scores of 6.17 (SD = 5.5) before the lockdown and 6.42 (SD = 5.7) during the lockdown. There were no differences in GAD-7 scores before 6.17 (SD = 5.5) and during 6.42 (SD = 5.7) the lockdown periods. However, levels of moderate anxiety increased by 5% during the lockdown period. Anxiety levels before and during lockdown were significantly associated with gender (χ2 (3, n = 516) =11.23 p = 0.01) and employment status (χ2 (3, n = 516) = 9.41 p = 0.024). Among the GAD-7 questionnaire items, item number 1 ("Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge") (p= 0.00) and item number 7 ("Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen") (p= 0.025) showed a significant association with anxiety levels before and during the lockdown periods. The enduring prevalence of mild anxiety, persisting both before and during the lockdown periods, underscores the profound impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the general population in Saudi Arabia.

Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates Upon Hospital Discharge at a Tertiary Centre Prior to and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to describe exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates at discharge at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and explore factors that contributed to changes in breastfeeding rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 4762 patient charts were reviewed, 2000 from the pre-pandemic period, and 2762 from the lockdown period. Data was collected on EBF status at discharge, on maternal health history, and on infant characteristics. EBF rates fell from 75.8% to 73.85% from the pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 period. During the pandemic, EBF was positively associated with BMI <30, spontaneous conception, and infants at risk of low blood sugar. Non-spontaneous conception was associated with lower EBF.

Comparative Analysis of Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing During COVID-19 Lockdown Period in Peninsular India

AbstractThe load of aerosols in the atmosphere has been increasing gradually due to industrialization and urbanization. This increase has contributed to change in the Earth’s radiation budget through the absorption or scattering of radiation. The aerosol direct radiative forcing (ADRF) is a measurement utilized to comprehend the impact of cooling or warming up of the atmosphere directly by aerosols. Our study examined the impact of aerosols during the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing them to the average from the preceding 5-year period (2015–2019) in peninsular India. The measure of aerosols deployed in this study is the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), and the study was carried out on three distinct time frames: prior to lockdown, during lockdown, and post lockdown. The study revealed that the ADRF increased during all the three time frames of 2020 compared to the average of 2015–2019, and the other time scales experienced an increase in ADRF as well. The most notable rise in ADRF and decrease in temperature occurred in the tropical savanna and warm semi-arid climate regions during the pre-lockdown period. During lockdown, the increase in ADRF was seen throughout the study area, and a decrease in temperature was observed only in the tropical monsoon region. In the post-lockdown period, the decline in ADRF was accompanied by a fall in temperature in the tropical savanna region. This study provides insights into the effect of aerosols on ADRF in peninsular India and highlights the importance of monitoring and regulating aerosol emissions to mitigate the changes in temperature.