Non-pandemic Years Research Articles

Assessing the Impact of the Pandemic on Treatment Outcomes for Cardiac Arrest Patients Utilizing Mechanical CPR: A Nationwide Population-Based Observational Study in South Korea

Introduction: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation with mechanical devices (MCPR) was developed to provide high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for patients with cardiac arrest. However, the effect of this procedure on treatment outcomes remains controversial. Nevertheless, during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, in-hospital MCPR gained attention, owing to its advantages such as saving medical staff and preventing infection. This study compared the treatment outcomes of in-hospital MCPR and manual CPR for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This retrospective nationwide population-based study was conducted in South Korea. Data were collected from the Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest surveillance database managed by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. We included adult OHCA patients transported by emergency medical services from 2016 to 2021. The study compared outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic years (2020–2021) with the preceding non-pandemic years (2018–2019). The primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge, and the secondary outcomes were good neurological outcome and sustained return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Results: The entire study included 72,050 patients with OHCA and, in the multivariable analyses, MCPR was associated with lower survival rates compared to manual CPR (AOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.51–0.77; p < 0.001). Interestingly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, while MCPR use increased, the survival rate did not differ significantly between the MCPR and manual-CPR groups. Conclusion: Our study findings suggest that while MCPR may offer potential benefits, such as decreased infection risk for healthcare workers, it did not demonstrate superior outcomes compared to manual CPR in our study population.

Comparative Study of Ambient Noise Levels during Ganesh Festival in COVID-19 Pandemic and Non-Pandemic Years

In Indian culture, festivals play a significant part and are enthusiastically observed by the populace. Every religion and community in India celebrates its own culture. The majority of these ceremonies and festivities end up creating pollution, particularly noise pollution. Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as the Ganesh festival, is one such event that is enthusiastically observed in Maharashtra, India. The present represents the noise pollution levels measured at renowned community pandals in Mumbai City in four consecutive years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 during the Ganesh festival. Based on indices like L10, L50, and L90, as well as noise pollution level (LNP) and noise climate (NC), noise level data was evaluated. A comparative study of noise levels was conducted for the data that was gathered during Ganesh Chaturthi. The city observed modest eco-friendly holiday celebrations, which significantly reduced noise levels brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 year. Elevated noise levels were recorded in the year 2022 as the restrictions imposed during the pandemic year 2020 were dropped by the government authorities. The significant decrease in noise levels during the festival exhibits the fact that the pandemic crisis serves as a wake-up call for the local administration's demonstration of noise pollution reduction. Making new rules and procedures to reduce pollution and celebrate holidays sustainably can incorporate many parts of the epidemic.

Impact of COVID-19 on subnational variations in life expectancy and life disparity at birth in India: evidence from NFHS and SRS data

BackgroundMeasuring life expectancy and life disparity can assist in comprehending how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mortality estimates in the Indian population. The present study aims to study the life expectancy and life disparity at birth at the national and subnational levels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using the NFHS and SRS data.MethodsThe measures Life expectancy at birth ({e}_{0}) and Life disparity at birth ({e}_{0}^{dagger}) were computed for the non-pandemic and pandemic years from NFHS (2015–16), SRS (2015) and NFHS (2019–21), SRS (2020) respectively at the national and Subnational level in India. Using NFHS data for the 36 states and SRS data for the 22 states, the study calculates {e}_{0} and {e}_{0}^{dagger} by total, male and female population.ResultsThe {e}_{0} for male and female decline from 64.3 years and 69.2 years in 2015–16 to 62.9 years and 68.9 years in 2019–21. The {e}_{0} shows a drop of approximately 1.4 years for males and 0.3 years for females in the pandemic year 2019–21 when compared to the non-pandemic year 2015–16. At the subnational level {e}_{0} shows a decline for 22 states in person, 23 states in males and 21 states in females in the pandemic year 2019–21 as compared to the non-pandemic years 2015–16. The {e}_{0}^{dagger} shows a increase for 21 states in person, 24 states in females and 17 states in males in the pandemic year than non-pandemic year. The findings shows a significant losses in {e}_{0} and gains in {e}_{0}^{dagger} for males than females in the pandemic year as compared to the non-pandemic year at the subnational level in India.ConclusionsCOVID-19 pandemic has decreased {e}_{0} and increased {e}_{0}^{dagger} in the pandemic year 2019–21 at the national and subnational level in India. COVID-19 had a significant impact on the age pattern of mortality for many states and male, female population and delayed the mortality transition in India.

Assessment Of COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Detrimental Impact On The Population Of Nuclear City: Two-Year Results

Background — Since the announcement of the global coronavirus infection disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the attempts to assess the pandemic-related detrimental impact are of particular interest. The methodology of assessing the overall mortality attributed to COVID-19 pandemic, unlike the use of specific indicators that are sensitive to different methods of accounting the number of infected and deaths, provides more clear understanding of the pandemic-related impact. Objective — Quantitative assessment of the pandemic-related detrimental impact caused by the novel coronavirus infection in a small nuclear city, which is relevant for evaluating the effectiveness of anti-epidemic measures. Methods and Results — The population changes in a small urban district located in the South Ural Region of the Russian Federation were retrospectively analyzed for the decade, based on the open-source demographic data. The pandemic-related detrimental impact was calculated as overall excess mortality rate, compared with the previous non-pandemic years by using the additive model of excess absolute risk. The number of absolute excess deaths, adjusted for gender, age, population size, and number of diseased, was modeled using multivariate linear regression. The pandemic-related detriment was calculated based on the number of predicted excess deaths attributed to COVID-19. The relationship between the total number of deaths and the number of COVID-19 cases was analyzed. The total predicted two-year excess of pandemic-related deaths was 557.9. The pandemic-related total excess mortality per 1,000 patients infected with SARS-Cov-2 was 50.2 (95% CI 38.4; 62.0). Conclusion — The analyses revealed significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the overall excess mortality in the nuclear city population in 2020 and 2021 implemented in both direct and indirect way. The population size was a major significant risk factor confounding the overall mortality. In order to develop an effective strategy to control and prevent the consequences of a pandemic, further monitoring of the epidemic situation in a nuclear city is required.

Comparison of influenza and COVID-19 hospitalisations in British Columbia, Canada: a population-based study

IntroductionWe compared the population rate of COVID-19 and influenza hospitalisations by age, COVID-19 vaccine status and pandemic phase, which was lacking in other studies.MethodWe conducted a population-based study using hospital...

COVID-19 reduced recreational fishing effort during the black bass spawning season, resulting in increases in black bass reproductive success and annual recruitment

In Opinicon Lake, Ontario during two non-pandemic years (2019 and 2022) the hook-wounding rates from recreational angling observed among nesting male largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (LMB), and nesting male smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu (SMB), were quite high, but typical of those observed in the lake over the last 20 years of monitoring. That level of illegal, preseason angling resulted in very low percentages of both LMB and SMB nesting males being successful at raising their broods to independence, rates comparable to those observed for this lake in previous years. In 2020 and 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, however, access to fishing in Ontario was severely limited during the bass spawning season, which serendipitously provided a natural “whole-lake bass spawning sanctuary” to study. Not surprisingly, the hook-wounding rates for nesting male LMB and SMB in Opinicon Lake were the lowest rates ever observed over the last 30 + years. Concomitantly, the percentage of nesting male LMB and SMB that were successful at raising their broods to independence was approximately 3–4 times greater than that in the non-COVID years. Not unexpectedly, those increases in nesting success translated to similar increases in LMB and SMB reproductive success (production of post parental care, independent fry). More importantly, those increases further resulted in large increases in the annual recruitment of both LMB and SMB. This unanticipated COVID-driven experiment revealed that using bass spawning sanctuaries would be more efficient than closed seasons as a management strategy to conserve levels of black bass annual recruitment.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the occurrence and outcome of cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic had influenced the patient's behavior and impacted the homeostasis to a pro-thrombotic niveau. Aim The study aimed to follow the impact of COVID-19 on the incidence and prognosis of cardiogenic shock complicated initially acute myocardial infarction (CS-AMI). Methods We used data entered into a large national all-comers registry of coronary intervention over five years. From 1/2016 to 12/2020, 50,745 AMI patients were included, and 2,822 (5.6%) initially had CS. Results The incidence of CS-AMI was significantly higher in the COVID period (2020) than the mean incidence in 2016–2019 (5.5% vs 6%, p=0.032). The difference was caused by significant increase of CS in acute STEMI (7.6% vs. 8.7%, p=0.011); it was 7.1% in 2016, 7.8% (2017), 7.6% (2018), 7.8% (2019), and 8.7% (2020). The CS complicated 2.3% (2016), 2.7% (2017), 2.7% (2018), 2.8% (2019), and 2.8% (2020) of NSTEMI. The observed rise in CS-STEMI incidence each month during the pandemic compared to the average incidence in non-pandemic years correlated with the substantial increase in the number of COVID infected/hospitalized (Table 1). In these months, no changes in time delay to reperfusion layout were observed in CS-STEMI patients (Table 2). Except of less frequent history of previous PCI (13.9% and 8.2%, p<0.001), we found no significant differences in the followed CS-STEMI patient characteristics in 2016–2019 and 2020; men 72.7% and 75.4% (p=0.1), mean age (SD) 66.3 (12.3)yrs and 66.3 (12.2) yrs, Diabetes 20.9% and 19.1% (p=0.2), CKD 5.4% and 5.7% (p=0.4), previous CABG 4.5 and 4.2% (p=0.5), left main disease (14.3% and 16%, p=0.5), one vessel disease 24.9% and 32.1% (p=0.9), pre-PCI TIMI flow 0 64.4% and 66.2% (p=0.6), post-PCI TIMI flow 3 76.7% and 76.9%. The COVID pandemic didn't influence the proportions of pre-hospital resuscitated CS-AMI patients (57.5% and 58.7%, p=0.6) and those on mechanical ventilation (67.8% and 68.3%, p=0.8). The 30-day mortality trend of CS-AMI was 53.7% in 2016, 51.6% (2017), 49.7% (2018), 49.3% (2019), and 47.9% (2020). And in CS-STEMI it was 50.8%, 47.1%, 46.4%, 44.1%, and 45.3% (P2019 vs. 2020 =0.8), respectively. Conclusion Data from a large national all-comer registry showed an increase in the proportion of patients admitted to hospitals with STEMI complicated by CS in the year of the COVID pandemic. The CS rise correlated with the increase in the COVID infected population. Factors other than the patient's cardiovascular risk profile or prolongation of a time delay to reperfusion influenced this trend. We suggest that the availability of health care and patient adherence may have affected the risks control. We did not observe any effect of the pandemic on CS-AMI mortality. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic

Exploring the unseen effect of COVID 19 pandemic on blood transfusion services in a tertiary care centre

BackgroundThe coronavirus pandemic confronted blood transfusion services with major challenges. The present study was conducted to explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood transfusion services including seroprevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections. Material and MethodsA retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted and data on blood donation, utilization, camps, plateletpheresis and seroprevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTI) was retrieved from software from March to September 2020 and 2021 and compared with corresponding time periods of three preceding non-pandemic years. ResultsThere was a decline of 53.79% and 34.4% in blood donations in 2020 and 2021 respectively with a significant reduction in voluntary donations from 91.8% in the pre-pandemic period to 72.2% in 2020 and 77.7% in 2021. Replacement donors increased by 60.81% and 72.89% in 2020 and 2021 respectively. There was a decline of 48.4% in the number of plateletpheresis procedures in 2020 which increased in 2021 during the dengue outbreak. The decline in total blood donations and issue of packed red blood cells was statistically significant but supply and demand were balanced with no deficit. TTI seroprevalence increased from 1.01% to 1.49%(p<0.001) and 1.51%(p<0.001) in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Replacement donors showed a significantly higher TTI prevalence as compared to voluntary donors(p<0.001). A significant increase in prevalence was observed for Syphilis (0.4%) in 2020 and HBsAg (0.54%), HCV(0.63%) and syphilis (0.25%) in 2021. ConclusionThe potential consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood safety cannot be undermined. Developing a strong database of regular voluntary donors can be instrumental in dealing with future waves and surges in infections.

Pandemic-induced Reductions In Training Volume And Performance In Collegiate Swimmers

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant training disruptions during the 2020-21 season due to lockdowns, quarantines, and strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The effect of pandemic-induced disruptions on swim performance remains unclear. PURPOSE: 1) Determine how pandemic training restrictions affected training volume in a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 2 (NCAA D2) swim team (compared with a non-pandemic year) and 2) Evaluate differences in performance during a pandemic versus a non-pandemic year at the NCAA D2 regional competition. METHODS: Observational, retrospective, data were collected from a single NCAA D2 swim team. Cumulative training volume data (in yards), across a 28-week season, were compared between a pandemic (2020-2021) versus non-pandemic (2019-2020) season. Swimmers were categorized into three groups (Sprinters, Mid-Distance, and Long-Distance) based on training group and volume analyzed via t-tests. Performance times in 25 swimmers who competed in Regional Championships, during both the non-pandemic and pandemic year, were also compared via 1-way ANOVA. Data expressed as means±SD. RESULTS: 26 male and 22 female swimmers commenced the 2020-21 (pandemic) season, with six male (23%) and five females (23%) voluntarily opting out. Three COVID-19 cases were confirmed (2%) by the medical staff with no long-term effects. Significant reductions in total swim volume were verified in Sprinters (32,867 ± 10,135 vs.14,800 ± 7,995yards;p < 0.001), Mid-Distance (26,457 ± 10,692 vs.17,054 ± 9.923yards;p < 0.001), and Long-Distance (37,600 ± 14,430 vs.22,254 ± 14,418yards;p < 0.001) swimmers (non-pandemic vs. pandemic season, respectively). For the 25 swimmers who competed in Regional Championships, in both the pandemic and non-pandemic years, Sprinters swam faster (n = 8;-0.5 ± 0.6secs), while Mid-Distance (n = 10;0.17 ± 2.1secs) and Long-Distance (n = 7;6.0 ± 4.9secs) swimmers swam slower (F = 11.76;p = 0.0003;r2 = 0.52) with the reduced training volume. CONCLUSION: Pandemic-induced stressors contributed to ~1 out of every 4 (~23%) swimmers opting out of the 2020-21 season. The pandemic caused significant reductions in swim training volume, with Sprinters performing better while Long-Distance swimmers performed worse compared with a non-pandemic year.

Different patterns of excess all-cause mortality by age and sex in Hungary during the 2nd and 3rd waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is well accepted that COVID-19-related mortality shows a strong age dependency. However, temporal changes in the age distribution of excess relative mortality between waves of the pandemic are less frequently investigated. We aimed to assess excess absolute mortality and the age-distribution of all-cause mortality during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary compared to the same periods of non-pandemic years. Rate ratios for excess all-cause mortality with 95% confidence intervals and the number of excess deaths for the second (week 41 of 2020 through week 4 of 2021) and third waves (weeks 7–21 of 2021) of the COVID pandemic for the whole of Hungary compared to the same periods of the pre-pandemic years were estimated for 10-year age strata using Poisson regression. Altogether, 9771 (95% CI: 9554–9988) excess deaths were recorded during the second wave of the pandemic, while it was lower, 8143 (95% CI: 7953–8333) during the third wave. During the second wave, relative mortality peaked for ages 65–74 and 75–84 (RR 1.37, 95%CI 1.33–1.41, RR 1.38, 95%CI 1.34–1.42). Conversely, during the third wave, relative mortality peaked for ages 35–44 (RR 1.43, 95%CI 1.33–1.55), while those ≥65 had substantially lower relative risks compared to the second wave. The reduced relative mortality among the elderly during the third wave is likely a consequence of the rapidly increasing vaccination coverage of the elderly coinciding with the third wave. The hugely increased relative mortality of those 35–44 could point to non-biological causes, such as less stringent adherence to non-pharmaceutical measures in this population.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11357-022-00622-3.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Elbow Fractures: Marked Change in Management and Resource Utilization, Without a Change in Incidence.

Background:Elbow fractures are the most common pediatric fractures requiring operative treatment. Although recent reports have suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has markedly reduced the incidence of pediatric fractures, no study has specifically evaluated the impact on pediatric elbow fractures. This study aimed to evaluate changes in the incidence, severity, and resource utilization for managing pediatric elbow fractures during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with prepandemic years.Methods:A prepandemic (2007 to 2017) cohort and a COVID-19 pandemic period (March 2020 to March 2021) cohort of pediatric elbow injuries from a single tertiary hospital were retrospectively examined and compared. Exclusion criteria included outside treatment or lack of diagnosis by an orthopedist. Presentation information, injury patterns, transport, and treatment requirements were collected.Results:Although the incidence of pediatric elbow fractures and rate of neurovascular injury were comparable, seasonal patterns were not sustained and the rate of fracture displacement was found to be significantly elevated in the COVID-19 period compared with nonpandemic years. Likewise, marked changes to where patients first presented (emergency department vs. Clinic), how the patients were transported, and the distance traveled for care were observed. Specifically, patients were more likely to present to the clinic, were more likely to self-transport instead of using emergency medical service transportation, and traveled a greater distance for care, on average. Aligning with these changes, the resources utilized for the treatment of pediatric elbow fracture markedly changed during the COVID-19 period. This study found that there was an increase in the overall number of surgeries performed, the total operative time required to treat elbow fractures, and the number of patients requiring admission during the COVID-19 period.Conclusions:These data provide a contrasting viewpoint to prior reports, illustrating that the incidence of elbow fractures remained consistent during the COVID-19 period, whereas the operative volume and need for hospital admission increased compared with years prior. Furthermore, this study demonstrated how the COVID-19 pandemic altered the interface between pediatric patients with elbow fractures and our institution regarding the location of presentation and transportation.Level of Evidence:Level III—retrospective cohort study.

A STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON EYE CARE AND ACADEMICS IN A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Objective: Covid-19 has severely affected both clinical and medical education work in all teachinghospitalincluding eye care hospitals. The objective is to study the effect of covid-19 in a regional eye hospital. Material and Methods: This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Datafrom April 2016 to March 2021 -regarding census, effect of pandemic on patients from different backgrounds, patient care services like OP, IP, Refraction and Surgeries were collected from the hospital records before and during Pandemic period and is tabulated and analysed. Results: In this study Data from April 2016-March 2021 at our centre is analysed. OPD census reduced to almost 1/3rd in the pandemic year 2020-21. In patient census reduced to one-seventhwhen compared to admissions in non-Pandemic years. Similarly, refractions were reduced to half to one-third in comparison with previous years data, refraction being one of the most common OPD procedure. On the surgical side, Cataract surgeries and minor surgeriesperformed were also reduced significantly to one-seventh &amp; one-sixth respectively when compared with previous years performances. On the medical education front both Undergraduate and postgraduate teaching could not take place for about (50%) half of the academic year2020-21 on any platform. Conclusions: Unforeseen Pandemic Covid-19 has severely affected eye care services, including basic services at our tertiary eye care centre. Pandemics like covid-19 emphasize on improving eye care at all levels and also the need of developing infrastructure for Teleophthalmology to cater the need of patients.

COVID-19 prevention measures reduce dengue spread in Yunnan Province, China, but do not reduce established outbreak

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic and measures against it provided a unique opportunity to understand the transmission of other infectious diseases and to evaluate the efficacy of COVID-19 prevention measures on them. Here we show a dengue epidemic in Yunnan, China, during the pandemic of COVID-19 was dramatically reduced compared to non-pandemic years and, importantly, spread was confined to only one city, Ruili. Three key features characterized this dengue outbreak: (i) the urban-to-suburban spread was efficiently blocked; (ii) the scale of epidemic in urban region was less affected; (iii) co-circulation of multiple strains was attenuated. These results suggested that countermeasures taken during COVID-19 pandemic are efficient to prevent dengue transmission between cities and from urban to suburban, as well to reduce the co-circulation of multiple serotypes or genotypes. Nevertheless, as revealed by the spatial analysis, once the dengue outbreak was established, its distribution was very stable and resistant to measures against COVID-19, implying the possibility to develop a precise prediction method.

COVID-19 pandemic and blood transfusion services: The impact, response and preparedness experience of a tertiary care blood center in southern Karnataka, India

IntroductionWith the outbreak of COVID-19 and its containment measures, blood centers faced a huge challenge in balancing blood demand and supply and devising a preparedness plan to withstand the uncertain situation. This study assesses the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood transfusion services and discusses the appropriate mitigation strategies adopted. MethodsWe analyzed our center's blood transfusion services during the first half-period of the pandemic (Y3) and non-pandemic years 2018(Y1) and 2019(Y2) in two-quarters Q1 (pre-lockdown), from January to March and Q2 (post-lockdown), from April to June. The blood donation variables, the packed red blood cells (PRBCs) demand and the utilization pattern were compared between pandemic (Y3) and non-pandemic years (Y1 and Y2) in each quarter. The mitigation strategy adopted at every step of the transfusion service is highlighted. ResultsDuring post-lockdown (Q2) of the pandemic year (Y3), the blood donation was majorly by repeat donors (83%) from the in-house site (82.5%). Furthermore, the proportion of outdoor donation, deferral, blood collection, demand and issue demonstrated a significant drop of 50%, 32.6%, 33%, 31.8% and 32.3%, respectively, in comparison to Q2 of the non-pandemic years (Y1 and Y2), with a statistically significant difference for surgical and hemorrhagic indications (p < 0.05). Coping strategies, such as blood donor education and motivation using e-platforms emphasizing eligibility during the pandemic, staggering of donor in-flow, postponement of elective surgeries and donor and staff’ COVID-19 safety assurance, were followed. ConclusionThe timely adoption of coping strategies played a crucial role in the better handling of shortcomings at our center's blood transfusion services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teaching with digital geology in the high Arctic: opportunities and challenges

Abstract. The Covid-19 pandemic occurred at a time of major revolution in the geosciences – the era of digital geology. Digital outcrop models (DOMs) acquired from consumer drones, processed using user-friendly photogrammetric software and shared with the wider audience through online platforms are a cornerstone of this digital geological revolution. Integration of DOMs with other geoscientific data, such as geological maps, satellite imagery, terrain models, geophysical data and field observations, strengthens their application in both research and education. Teaching geology with digital tools advances students' learning experience by providing access to high-quality outcrops, enhancing visualization of 3D geological structures and improving data integration. Similarly, active use of DOMs to integrate new field observations will facilitate more effective fieldwork and quantitative research. From a student's perspective, georeferenced and scaled DOMs allow for an improved appreciation of scale and of 3D architecture, which is a major threshold concept in geoscientific education. DOMs allow us to bring geoscientists to the outcrops digitally, which is particularly important in view of the Covid-19 pandemic that restricts travel and thus direct access to outcrops. At the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), located at 78∘ N in Longyearbyen in Arctic Norway, DOMs are actively used even in non-pandemic years, as the summer field season is short and not overlapping with the Bachelor “Arctic Geology” course package held from January to June each year. In 2017, we at UNIS developed a new course (AG222 “Integrated Geological Methods: From Outcrop To Geomodel”) to encourage the use of emerging techniques like DOMs and data integration to solve authentic geoscientific challenges. In parallel, we have established the open-access Svalbox geoscientific portal, which forms the backbone of the AG222 course activities and provides easy access to a growing number of DOMs, 360∘ imagery, subsurface data and published geoscientific data from Svalbard. Considering the rapid onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Svalbox portal and the pre-Covid work on digital techniques in AG222 allowed us to rapidly adapt and fulfil at least some of the students' learning objectives during the pandemic. In this contribution, we provide an overview of the course development and share experiences from running the AG222 course and the Svalbox platform, both before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Patient voluntarily delays call to emergency medical system for ST-elevation myocardial infarction during COVID-19 pandemic.

BackgroundAn increase in the time from the symptoms onset to first medical contact and to primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) has been observed in countries with high-incidence of COVID-19 cases. We aimed to verify if there was any change in the patient delay and in the EMS response times up to the pPCI for STEMI patients in Swiss Ticino Canton.MethodsWe assessed STEMI management including time from symptoms onset to EMS call, time of EMS response, time to pPCI in Swiss Canton Ticino. Data were retrieved from the Acute-Coronary-Syndrome-Ticino-Registry. We considered the patients included in the registry from March to May 2020 (pandemic period) and then from June to August 2020 (post-pandemic period) in whom a pPCI was performed. We compared these patients to those undergoing a pPCI in the same months in the year 2016–2019.ResultsDuring the pandemic period, the time from symptoms onset to pPCI significantly increased compared to non-pandemic periods. This was due to a significant prolongation of the time from symptoms onset to EMS call, that nearly tripled. In contrast, after the pandemic period, there was a significantly shorter time from symptom onset to EMS call compared to non-pandemic years, whereas all other times remained unchanged.ConclusionPatients delay the call to EMS despite symptoms of myocardial infarction during the COVID-19 pandemic also in a region with a relatively low incidence of COVID-19.

What Worked, What Did Not: University Instruction during a Pandemic

What Worked, What Did Not: University Instruction during a Pandemic

Phenotyping coronavirus disease 2019 during a global health pandemic: Lessons learned from the characterization of an early cohort

From the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, researchers have looked to electronic health record (EHR) data as a way to study possible risk factors and outcomes. To ensure the validity and accuracy of research using these data, investigators need to be confident that the phenotypes they construct are reliable and accurate, reflecting the healthcare settings from which they are ascertained. We developed a COVID-19 registry at a single academic medical center and used data from March 1 to June 5, 2020 to assess differences in population-level characteristics in pandemic and non-pandemic years respectively. Median EHR length, previously shown to impact phenotype performance in type 2 diabetes, was significantly shorter in the SARS-CoV-2 positive group relative to a 2019 influenza tested group (median 3.1 years vs 8.7; Wilcoxon rank sum P = 1.3e-52). Using three phenotyping methods of increasing complexity (billing codes alone and domain-specific algorithms provided by an EHR vendor and clinical experts), common medical comorbidities were abstracted from COVID-19 EHRs, defined by the presence of a positive laboratory test (positive predictive value 100%, recall 93%). After combining performance data across phenotyping methods, we observed significantly lower false negative rates for those records billed for a comprehensive care visit (p = 4e-11) and those with complete demographics data recorded (p = 7e-5). In an early COVID-19 cohort, we found that phenotyping performance of nine common comorbidities was influenced by median EHR length, consistent with previous studies, as well as by data density, which can be measured using portable metrics including CPT codes. Here we present those challenges and potential solutions to creating deeply phenotyped, acute COVID-19 cohorts.

Creating a Safe, Return-to-sport Environment in Upstate New York during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Creating a Safe, Return-to-sport Environment in Upstate New York during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Learning From the Past and Working in the Present to Create an Antiracist Future for Academic Medicine.

Learning From the Past and Working in the Present to Create an Antiracist Future for Academic Medicine.