Phase Of Lockdown Research Articles

Covid-19 information dissemination in India: An evaluation through public awareness study

Information dissemination during any disaster plays a vital role in the handling and recovery from the situation. The present study was an attempt to evaluate the information dissemination, reach, and penetration during COVID-19. The work was carried out by assessing public awareness during the first phase of lockdown through a questionnaire survey. The results indicated that, while the general public was well aware of most of the basic information related to COVID-19, some sensitive information showcased significant variation in public opinion owing to lack of information reach. Further, some variables like gender, education, and occupation played a vital role in information circulation and penetration. The influence of e-media over print media in the reliability of information during the pandemic was evidence suggesting the importance of social media in modern-day information broadcasting.

GH Therapy in children and adolescents with Growth Hormone Deficiency during the first phase of COVID-19 lockdown: a survey in an Italian center.

Coronavirus Disease - 19 (COVID-19) had a profound impact on mental health of people and can influence the quality of life of children who need chronic therapies, affecting daily adherence to drug therapy and altering long-term outcomes. In Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD) regular drug intake guarantees height improvement and, consequently, self-esteem of children. We conducted a survey to evaluate adherence to daily therapy and changes of height standard deviations in children with GHD during a pandemic-associated lockdown. 30 children (17 boys and 13 girls) with aged between 7 and 18 years were examined during the observational period. Adherence to therapy (self-reported and also confirmed with a standardized questionnaire), height and growth velocity during treatment were analyzed. All of our patients reported a moderate to high level of adherence during the period of sanitary emergency (N=2 Morisky 7; N=28 Morisky 8). Adherence assessed by the Morisky Scale was in agreement in all cases with the self-reported one. Analysis of our data confirmed an improvement of the patients' height standard deviations, which could be related to the good adherence to growth hormone therapy during lockdown. We can hypothesize that limitations during the lockdown period have positively influenced adherence to therapy and, consequently, height standard deviations of children with GHD in substitution therapy. The evaluation of adherence carried out by our interview showed an increased regularity in hormonal administration due to various factors, such as the greatest amount of time spent indoors. The increased adherence is coherent with the results of our auxological evaluations, which showed an increase in percentiles and standard deviations of height, compared to chronological age.

Distant education in Moroccan medical schools following COVID-19 outbreak at the early phase of lockdown: Were the students really engaged?

The Coronavirus pandemic outbreak has induced many urgent adaptation measures in Morocco including medical education that had to abruptly adopt an exclusive distant education approach, without former sufficient preparation. The present study aimed to assess medical students’ engagement in their acutely implemented distant learning and to identify factors that could be associated to the students’ studying engagement levels. Medical students from 1st to 5th years of medical studies, enrolled in all Moroccan public medical faculties were invited to fill-in an anonymous online questionnaire.3174 medical students took part in the study, with a mean age of 20.4 +/- 1.8 years old, and 65.4% of them were women. 90% of the participants reported moderate to drastic change of their sleeping habits and 65% suffered depression symptoms. 20.7% of students didn't engage at all in their learning, 26% studied for less than one hour daily, and only 53.3% studied for one hour or more daily. Only 46.4% of the participants had access to multimedia studying resources and only 20.9% were offered online interactive sessions with their teachers. 41.8% of the participants were unsatisfied from their distant learning experience. Lower studying engagement rates were significantly associated with older age, male gender, change of sleeping patterns, depression symptoms, and also with lack of access to multimedia studying resources and poor general satisfaction from the distant learning experience.Distant Education needs to include more interactive activities and more multimedia studying resources to engage students more efficiently in their self-regulated learning.

Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Working Mothers in France.

Beyond its devastating consequences for public health, the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on gender inequalities, labour markets and families. Compared to many European countries, the French approach to lockdown was among the more stringent, although the measures taken by the French government to support employment, to some extent, mitigated the worst effects of the crisis on families. This article analyses the implications of COVID lockdown restrictions on gender equality and well-being for couples with children in France. The study adopted a multidimensional approach to gender inequalities associated with paid work and various dimensions of living conditions, involving gender-differentiated access to personal work spaces in the home, personal leisure time outside the home, and local support networks during the first phase of lockdown (March−June 2020). Drawing on data from the COCONEL survey, carried out by the Institut national d’études démographiques on a quota sample of the French adult population in April/May 2020, the authors controlled for variables including socio-economic status, age, family structure and place of residence. The survey data were complemented by a longitudinal set of in-depth interviews enabling the research team to capture the differential effects of the pandemic within couples. The main findings indicate that, despite the frequency of dual-employment arrangements for heterosexual couple households with dependent children, French mothers were nevertheless more likely to reduce their working time and/or withdraw from the labour market. Within the households surveyed, mothers were less likely than fathers to leave the home during the day, particularly for personal leisure activities. The presence of children in households increased gender inequality in both employment and living conditions across all socio-economic categories. In conclusion, the authors consider whether the pandemic might have a long-term impact on gender norms and inequalities within families, and how the findings about changes in gender inequalities could be used to inform public policy development.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the perception of home meals and meal-related variables: A large-scale study within the Italian population during the acute phase of the pandemic

Italy was the first European country struck by the COVID-19 epidemic and experienced a national lockdown. This study explored the effect of lockdown on the perception of any meals prepared and/or conducted at home (home meals) and investigated which variables played a role in this. A group of Italians (n = 3,060) not suspected/diagnosed as having COVID-19 (18–91 years old; 33% males) completed an online survey during the first lockdown (April 2020).Liking for home meals either increased (51% of the population) or did not vary (43%), while it decreased for only 6% of respondents. Total meal intake similarly either increased (51%) or remained unchanged (33%). Core variables describing meal perception (Liking for meal, Pleasure in meal preparation, Meal duration, Meal Time, Overall food intake, Snack intake) were positively associated with each other.Two clusters with different perceptions of home meals were found, characterised by an increased appreciation (Cl1, 61%) and an unchanged appreciation (Cl2, 39%), respectively. In the acute phase of lockdown, increased meal pleasure was associated with home togetherness (not living alone), cooking with others more often, having high cooking dynamism (use of different kitchen tools, engaging in online food-related activities like using online recipe/website for cooking, use of ready-to-eat meal delivery), and being young, a student or a worker (Cl1). Conversely, Cl2 showed an unchanged meal pleasure, and it was mostly associated with living alone (before and during lockdown), being elderly, retired, widowed, having a low degree of cooking-related activities and dedicating a small weekly budget to food. Variables strictly describing the meal were discussed. Lockdown did not homogenously affect the population in terms of meal pleasure, and high enjoyment of meals was related to high meal involvement. Younger subjects seemed to be more resilient and appreciated meals more due to high cooking dynamism, food-related activities and togetherness. Public health policies could consider these outputs to set up interventions that use meal-dedication activities to increase meal pleasure in vulnerable targets or in subjects experiencing poorly appreciated diets in similar future stressful situations.

COVID-19 lockdown induced air pollution reduction over India: A lesson for future air pollution mitigation strategies

Air pollution is one of the biggest problems worldwide and needs to be addressed potentially with the implementation of updated stringent policies and legislative laws. The nationwide lockdown imposed to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak, has given us a unique opportunity to understand the contribution of anthropogenic emissions to the total atmospheric pollutant burden on a global as well as regional scale. Thus, in the present study, we try to investigate the impact of COVID-19 induced lockdown on common ambient air pollutants (i.e., PM2.5, NO2, and SO2) concentration over 22 cities in India using in-situ measurement under a network of Centre Pollution and Control Board (CPCB). A significant reduction in the mean mass concentration of all the studied air pollutants (i.e., PM2.5, NO2, and SO2) (nearly 10–70%) is found during different phases of lockdown which reached within the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (i.e., NAAQS). The reduction in studied air pollutants is more prominent during the first phase of lockdown (mainly NO2) which could be due to the complete shutdown of industrial activities. The outcome of the present study will be helpful for policymakers to design cost-effective and accurate air pollution mitigation strategies for the development of a sustainable environment. The study also suggests that well-planned short-term and periodical lockdown could be an alternative effective tool of air pollution mitigation.

Lockdown and retail trading in the equity market

This paper examines the trading patterns of Australian retail investors during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It addresses the possibility that the Australian stock market may be used as a substitute for gambling due to prolonged lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using transaction-level data, we document that retail trading volume increases substantially during 2020, overtaking institutional trading. This trading behavior is consistent with the conjecture that the stock market offers an easily accessible platform as a gambling substitute. We further explore two additional motivations for gambling in the stock market. We find that investors treat stock trading as a fun and exciting activity especially during the second phase of lockdown from July to October 2020. Examining the profitability of retail trading, we show that stocks heavily bought by retail investors consistently generate negative returns. This result resembles the negative expected outcome of gambling loss and demonstrates the danger of trading in a volatile market environment.

Effect of lockdown amid COVID-19 pandemic on air quality of most polluted cities of Punjab (India)

In the last month of 2019, the outbreak of a viral disease named COVID-19 started in Wuhan, China. The disease has spread in most of the countries of the world and it was declared as a global pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Many countries implemented countrywide lockdown. COVID-19 has forced many countries to observe complete lockdown. This complete lockdown has improved the air quality significantly due to less human activities. In India, a complete lockdown of 21 days was implemented in phase I (March 25, 2020 to April 14, 2020) to avoid the spread of corona virus disease. Further, this lockdown was extended to phase II (April 15, 2020–May 3, 2020), phase III (May 4–17, 2020) and phase IV (May 18–31, 2020) with some relaxations in restrictions. In the present work, we have analyzed the data of major air pollutants PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3 from the three most polluted cities of Punjab for March 03–24, 2020 (before lockdown) vs. March 25, 2020 to May 31, 2020 (during lockdown divided into four phases). Further, an extensive comparison of the mean concentration of major air pollutants has been made for the different phases of lockdown including before lockdown period with the same periods in 2019. It is observed that the concentration of PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and SO2 has reduced significantly ~50% after first phase of lockdown. As observed in this study, there is an urgent need for interventions across northern India to knockdown air pollutant levels by more than 40% or so by adopting cleaner fuel technology and avoiding poor combustion activities.

EP.WE.434Impact Of COVID-19 Pandemic On Approach To Patients With Suspected Appendicitis Pre-Covid V/S Early Covid V/S Late Covid

IntroductionCOVID-19 brought concerns of increased perioperative mortality and spread of infection during aerosol generating procedures. As a consequence, intercollegiate guidelines recommended Computed Tomography to confirm the diagnosis of acute appendicitis and open surgical approach to minimize aerosol generation.AimsTo identify the impact of COVID-19 on the diagnostic and management approach for patients with acute appendicitis.MethodA single-centre, retrospective study. Data of patients suspected/confirmed, clinically/radiologically with acute appendicitis was collected over 3 periods of 6.4 weeks. Pre-COVID (11/02/2020 – 22/03/2020), Early COVID (25/03/2020 – 10/05/2020) and Late COVID (23/10/2020 – 06/12/2020), number of patients is 44,22 and 30, respectively. Outcomes included patient demographics, COVID status, management plan, surgical approach (open v/s laparoscopic), imaging modality, admission to critical care, 30-day complication, mortality and length of stay.ResultsDuring late COVID, number of patients with acute appendicitis slightly increased as compared to initial phase. Interestingly, number of males were consistent throughout all 3 phases. Only 10% presented with perforation during late versus 50% in Early COVID phase. Imaging decreased significantly during late (33.3%), as compared to early phase (72.7%). Open approach was performed in only 1/30 in late, versus 20/21 in early group. There was no 30-day mortality in all 3 groups.ConclusionCOVID-19 disrupted the usual surgical management plan of acute appendicitis in UK, during initial phase of lockdown. With the use of appropriate strategies and adherence to latest national guidelines, we were better prepared during the second lockdown. Construction of pathways for such pandemic events is helpful.

Changing Admission Patterns in Pediatric Emergency Departments during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy Were Due to Reductions in Inappropriate Accesses.

During the initial phase of the national lockdown, we found that there were sharp decreases in admissions to two pediatric emergency departments (EDs) in northern Italy (Cremona and Novara). Here we present a detailed analysis of these admission patterns and types of admissions over a longer timeframe. ED admissions data were anonymously extracted from the departmental management software. Admissions data from 2019 and 2020 were analyzed and compared separately for each ED and combined. There was a 73.2% decrease in total admissions compared with the same period in 2019. With respect to admission diagnoses, there was a significant (p < 0.001) drop in infectious (−51%), respiratory (−25.5%), and nervous systems diseases (−50%) and injuries and poisoning (−17%) but not endocrine, metabolic, neoplastic, circulatory, or musculoskeletal diseases. White codes (patients with minor injuries for whom ED medical care is not required) significantly decreased by 56.3% (p < 0.001). Even if the COVID-19 pandemic represented an enormous healthcare burden in Italy, especially during the first months of the pandemic (late February to May), the workload of pediatric EDs was significantly reduced, especially for unnecessary accesses (white codes).

Use of antidepressants during COVID19 outbreak: a real-world drug-utilization study

BackgroundLockdown measures implementation (LMI) to prevent COVID19 disease diffusion was associated to increased depression and anxiety cases. The main aim was to evaluate whether LMI affected prevalence and incidence of antidepressants (ADs) use, and ADs treatment interruption (TI) in the general population.MethodsAdults (≥18 years) with at least 1 dispensing of ADs between 01/01/2019-26/09/2020 were selected from a regional Italian healthcare administrative database. Patients presenting an AD dispensing in the year preceding the first observation were considered as prevalent otherwise as incident users. We divided the studied period into 3 parts: pre-lockdown (01/01/2019-08/03/2020), lockdown (09/03/2020-14/06/2020) and post-lockdown (15/06/2020-27/09/2020). The weekly prevalence (WP) and incidence (WI) per 10,000 inhabitants were compared among periods. Incidence of TI (no dispensing refill within 30 days of the end of its validity) was computed among prevalent AD users.ResultsThe WP (mean of 552.3 per 10,000 pre-lockdown vs 505.5 lockdown phase; relative change: -9%) and WI (5.2 vs 3.7; -29%) of ADs use decreased after LMI. During the post-lockdown phase WP (505.5 vs 495.9; -2%) decreased whereas the WI (3.7 vs 4.3; 16%) slightly increased in relation to the lockdown period, although differences were not statistically significant. Conversely, the incidence of TI increased during lockdown (344.7 vs 384.3; 12%) and post-lockdown (384.3 vs 394.2; 3%) periods, even not always statistically significant.ConclusionsOur analysis showed a reduction of ADs use during the early phase of lockdown. Several factors might have impacted on the observed phenomenon (i.e, patient reluctance to start new AD treatment). Considering the mutation of the virus and the potential waves that might occur in the next months, a continuous monitoring of the impact of COVID19 on mental diseases onset and treatment adherence are suggested.Key messages In Italy, the implementation of lockdown measures was followed by a reduction in antidepressants use, even though evidences are that diagnoses of psychiatric disorders increased.Future studies should monitor if these phenomena led to an increase in adverse events potentially correlated with inappropriate treatment of depression.

266 The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Theatre Mortality, Time to Intervention and Length of Stay in the First Phase of National Lockdown at a District General Hospital

AimThis study aimed to investigate the patient population requiring emergency surgery during the first phase of lockdown due to COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and compare it to the equivalent population in the same calendar period for 2019. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on emergency operations.MethodWe retrospectively reviewed patients undergoing surgery in emergency theatres at our district general hospital between March 23rd and May 11th in 2019 and 2020. Data collected included demographics (age/gender), National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) category and operation. The primary outcome was 90-day post-operative mortality; secondary outcomes included time to intervention and length of inpatient stay.Results132 (2020) versus 141 (2019) patients were included with no significant difference in age (p = 0.676) nor sex (p = 0.230). There was no difference in overall 90-day postoperative mortality (p = 0.196). Notably, time to intervention was faster for NCEPOD code 3 patients in 2020 than in 2019 (p = 0.027). Time to intervention in 2020 was longer for those dying within 90 days post-operatively compared to survivors (p = 0.02). There was no difference in length of stay between the years, both overall and when conducting subgroup analyses by NCEPOD category or procedures (fractured neck of femur (p = 0.776), laparoscopies (p = 0.866), laparotomies (p = 0.252)), except for upper limb trauma (p = 0.007).ConclusionsPatients were appropriately prioritised with no overall change in mortality or length of stay. A national validation audit assessing outcomes of emergency operations during these challenging times would further elucidate risks posed to surgical patients requiring urgent care.

Changes in sleep pattern and dream activity across and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: A longitudinal observational study.

SummaryA large body of evidence has documented the impact of the global COVID‐19 outbreak – and especially the lockdown period – on sleep quality and quantity. Here, we present the first Italian longitudinal study on sleep and COVID‐19 considering four different time points collected during lockdown (from 29 March 2020 to 3 May 2020) and a subsequent follow‐up period (October 2020). We used an online survey to collect socio‐demographic and COVID‐19 related information. Subjects were also asked to complete a sleep diary at each time point of the study. Our longitudinal sample included 147 participants. Statistical comparison across time intervals showed remarkable changes in sleep patterns during and after the lockdown. In particular, during lockdown we observed longer sleep latency, less ease of falling asleep, a higher total bedtime, and a lower dream frequency. The week‐by‐week evaluation described relatively stable patterns in the observed measures during the lockdown period, except for dream frequency, affected by a rapid increase in the early phase of lockdown. Our findings are in line with the current literature. Furthermore, the prospective longitudinal investigation comprising several time points offered the possibility of (a) observing the temporal dynamics and the different entities of such changes over time, and (b) reducing the typical memory bias for these studies.

Effect of Lockdown Amid COVID-19 on Ambient Air Quality in 16 Indian Cities

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected severely the economic structure and health care system, among others, of India and the rest of the world. The magnitude of its aftermath is exceptionally devastating in India, with the first case reported in January 2020, and the number has risen to ~31.3 million as of July 23, 2021. India imposed a complete lockdown on March 25, which severely impacted migrant population, industrial sector, tourism industry, and overall economic growth. Herein, the impacts of lockdown and unlock phases on ambient atmospheric air quality variables have been assessed across 16 major cities of India covering the north-to-south stretch of the country. In general, all assessed air pollutants showed a substantial decrease in AQI values during the lockdown compared with the reference period (2017–2019) for almost all the reported cities across India. On an average, about 30–50% reduction in AQI has been observed for PM2.5, PM10, and CO, and maximum reduction of 40–60% of NO2 has been observed herein, while the data was average for northern, western, and southern India. SO2 and O3 showed an increase over a few cities as well as a decrease over the other cities. Maximum reduction (49%) in PM2.5 was observed over north India during the lockdown period. Furthermore, the changes in pollution levels showed a significant reduction in the first three phases of lockdown and a steady increase during subsequent phase of lockdown and unlock period. Our results show the substantial effect of lockdown on reduction in atmospheric loading of key anthropogenic pollutants due to less-to-no impact from industrial activities and vehicular emissions, and relatively clean transport of air masses from the upwind region. These results indicate that by adopting cleaner fuel technology and avoiding poor combustion activities across the urban agglomerations in India could bring down ambient levels of air pollution at least by 30%.

Effects of Individual Discount Rate and Uncertainty Perception on Compliance with Containment Measures during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Anti-contagion measures restricting individual freedom, such as social distancing and wearing a mask, are crucial to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Decision-making patterns and attitudes about uncertainty can highly influence the adherence to these restrictive measures. Here we investigated the relationship between risky behavior and individual preferences for immediate vs. delayed reward, as indexed by temporal discounting (TD), as well as the association between these measures and confidence in the future, perceived risk and confidence in the containment measures. These measures were collected through an online survey administered on 353 participants at the end of the more restrictive phase of the first Italian lockdown. The results showed an unexpected inverse relationship between the individual pattern of choice preferences and risky behavior, with an overall greater adherence to containment measures in more discounter participants. These findings were interpreted in terms of a reframing process in which behaviors aimed at protecting oneself from contagion turn into immediate gains rather than losses. Interestingly, an excessive confidence in a better future was correlated with a higher tendency to assume risky behavior, thereby highlighting the downside of an overly and blindly optimistic view.

Gambling behaviors during COVID-19: a narrative review

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered the world into unforeseen circumstances, prompting the authorities to impose restrictions and cut back various events including many gambling avenues. Professional sports have been postponed, land casinos are closed, and social distancing has shut home games down. The present narrative overview has addressed the following changes in gambling behavior since the start of the pandemic: - a) Change in the number of gamblers and intensity of gambling b) differences among various types of gambling modalities (land-based, horse betting, casino, online). and transitioning between them. c) Psychosocial effects on gamblers owing to the shutdown of gambling avenues in the early phase of COVID-19 lockdown. It alludes to several survey studies conducted so far in Northern Europe (Sweden, UK, Italy), North America (Canada, USA), and Australia on the potential impact of the SARS-Cov2 pandemic on gambling figures. Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scale is used by most of the studies to demonstrate the severity among gamblers i.e., low-risk, high-risk, and problem gamblers respectively. The majority of studies are based on self-reported questionnaires, few tracked data from online gambling operators, and one study used revenue-based taxation of land-based and online gambling as its information source. The decline in the overall gambling activity attributable to the situational changes was predominant in a majority of surveys. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gambling is diverse – possibly causing a reduction in current or future problems in some, but also promoting increased problematic gambling in others.

How has COVID-19, lockdown and social distancing changed alcohol drinking patterns? A cross-cultural perspective between britons and spaniards

During the early months of 2020, the world experienced a novel, violent, and relentless pandemic era. By the end of the year more than seventy-seven million cases of COVID-19 had been reported around the globe. Due to it being a highly contagious disease, the recommended measures adopted by most nations to prevent infection include social distancing and quarantine. How did these measures affect people's relationship with alcohol consumption in cultures where alcohol plays an important social role? A questionnaire-based study, designed to follow the drinking behaviour of people before and during lockdown was applied to two different cultural groups impacted by the pandemic during the strict phase of lockdown. These are the British and Spanish populations (179 participants from each country were interviewed). Considering the frequency of consumption of the alcoholic beverages evaluated (wine, beer, cider, whisky and spirits), the results showed that a significant lockdown*country interaction was observed. Overall, Spanish participants consumed alcoholic beverages less frequently during lockdown than before, while British participants reported no change in their consumption habits. Spaniards’ decrease in alcohol consumption is related to the absence of a social contexts while Britons seems to have adapted their consumption to the modified context. Results suggest that, alcohol consumption is a central core of the British culture, while for the Spanish, socialization is more a cultural characteristic than the alcohol itself.

Impact of COVID-19 induced lockdown and unlock down phases on the ambient air quality of Delhi, capital city of India

The present study deals with the impact of the pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 on the ambient air quality in the capital city of India. Real-time data were collected from eight continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations measuring important air quality parameters (NO2, PM10 and PM2.5). Results revealed that the city's air quality had improved significantly during the lockdown period due to COVID-19 outbreak. The concentration of gaseous and particulate matter during the lockdown period (March–May 2020) declined significantly compared with the preceding years' data from the same timeframe. However, the ambient air quality deteriorates with the onset of unlocking phases and post-monsoon season (October 2020). Higher concentration of NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 were recorded at industrial (S1 and S2) and hotspot (S4 and S5) sites. The lowest concentrations of studied pollutants were observed during the first phase of lockdown (March 24 – May 14, 2020). The present study, once again, establishes the direct effect of anthropogenic activities and deteriorating ambient air quality of Delhi.

O33 Outcomes of patients undergoing emergency surgery during the first phase of national lockdown in the United Kingdom due to COVID-19 pandemic: experience at a district general hospital

Abstract Introduction This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency operations during the first phase of lockdown in the United Kingdom, compared to the equivalent population in the same calendar period in 2019. Method We retrospectively reviewed patients undergoing surgery in emergency theatres at our district general hospital between March 23rd and May 11th in 2019 and 2020. Data collected included demographics, National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) category and procedure. The primary outcome was 90-day post-operative mortality; secondary outcomes included time to intervention and length of inpatient stay. Result 132 patients (2020) versus 141 (2019) patients were included with no significant difference in age (P = 0.676), sex (P = 0.230), or overall 90-day postoperative mortality (P = 0.196). Notably, time to intervention was faster for NCEPOD code 3 patients in 2020 than 2019 (P = 0.027). Time to intervention in 2020 was longer for those dying within 90 days post-operatively compared to survivors (P = 0.02). There was no difference in length of stay between years, both overall and when comparing subgroups by NCEPOD category or procedures (fractured neck of femur (P = 0.776), laparoscopies (P = 0.866), laparotomies (P = 0.252)), except for upper limb trauma (P = 0.007). Conclusion This study is amongst the first describing the general case mix in emergency theatres in the UK. Patient pre-operative characteristics and demographics did not change. Our data confirms patient prioritisation according to NCEPOD recommendations and streamlining of surgical services, with no difference in overall mortality, time to intervention or length of stay compared to 2019. Take-home Message At this district general hospital, patients were appropriately prioritised, and our results show adaptation of hospital practice to emerging national guidelines during the first phase of lockdown. A national validation audit assessing morbidity and mortality outcomes for all NCEPOD patients may be facilitate further understanding of risks posed to patients requiring urgent surgery during these unprecedented times.

​​Indian Agricultural Sector Present and Post Pandemic Condition

The COVID-19 influenced global pandemic severely affected the market of small industries and had a deep impact on the agri economic of the farmer community across the globe. The main objective of this article is to emphasize on the influence of global pandemic with agriculture and food sector. The lockdown made ambivalent in agriculture, the point of concern is that, at the first phase of lockdown in India, Rabi crops are at harvest stage, due to the lockdown the breakdown of supply chain has been interrupted and left a noticeable impact on the marketability of agriculture crops even though it has registered moderate growth in terms of yield. At present globally mankind is experiencing the waves of pandemic and it caused significant loss to the yield of crops. If the situation continuous, the world is going to experience the hunger deaths. To overcome the issue discussed, agriculture sector needs to adapt new technologies, right from the cultivation, harvest and supply chain with marketing to bring the new normal life back to mankind. This is the right time to have transition from conventional agri practices to the technology invented smart agriculture. Indian agriculture sector should adapt and the former community need to be educated in applying ICT based smart agriculture practices such as utilization of automated machinery, AI (artificial intelligence) enabled cultivation methods, Internet of Things (IoT) and Wireless Sensor Networks based monitoring and maintenance of the agriculture practice The application ICTs methods in agriculture practices facilitate to choose good quality seeds, optimum quantity of manures required for the enhanced crop yield, and direct monetary of the agriculture firm in order to show resilience to the global pandemic impact on agriculture sector. In the present review authors emphasised on various smart agriculture methods and their importance in promoting the agriculture practice as profitable venture and also how this ICT methods helps the sector to overcome the impact of global pandemic and to bring back the new normal life.