Post Outbreak Research Articles

COVID-19 and campus users: A longitudinal and place-based study of university mobilities in Texas

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted people's daily routines, including travel behaviors, social interactions, and work-related activities. However, the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the use of campus locations in higher education such as libraries, food courts, sports facilities, and other destinations are still unknown. Focusing on three largest universities in Texas (Texas A&M university, the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas Tech University), this study compares changes in campus destination visitations between pre and post COVID-19 outbreak (2019 Fall and 2021 Fall semesters, respectively) using the mobility data from SafeGraph. It also examines the potential moderation effects of walkable distance (i.e. 1 km) and greenery (i.e. NDVI value). The results presented the significant effects of COVID-19 on decreasing visitations to various campus places. The visitation decreased more significantly for people living within 1 km (defined as a walkable distance) of campus and for the food, eating, and drinking places and the sports, recreation, and sightseeing places. This finding suggests that those living near campus (mostly students) decreased their reliance on campus destinations, especially for eating/drinking and recreation purposes. The level of greeneries at/around campus destinations did not moderate campus visitations after COVID-19. Policy implications on campus health and urban planning were discussed.

Effects of implementation of healthcare associated infection surveillance and interventional measures in the neonatal intensive care unit: Small steps matter

PurposeNeonatal sepsis has been a global concern considering the mortality and morbidity. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of implementation of interventions namely healthcare associated infection (HAI) surveillance and hand hygiene (HH) monitoring in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Materials and methodsThe cohort study was conducted in the NICU of a tertiary care hospital over a period of June–September 2021 (pre-intervention) to October–March 2022 (post-intervention). HAI surveillance of primary bloodstream infections (BSI) and HH monitoring was initiated as interventions post outbreak due to non-albicans Candida (NAC). The primary outcome of the interventions was to record any improvement in HH rates or any change in HAI rates in the 6 months intervention period. Characteristics of the pre- and post-intervention period were compared by Fisher exact test. ResultsThere was significant reduction in BSI cases in the post-intervention period (p ​< ​0.05). Mortality and BSI due to NAC were significantly more in the pre-intervention period even though low birth weight neonates (<2500 ​g) were significantly more in the post-intervention period (p ​< ​0.05). The HAI rate for primary BSI in the NICU was 10.82 per 1000 patient days. The overall adherence rate to HH was 10.68% (complete) and 73.35% (partial). HAI rates were seen to change reciprocally with changes in HH rates. ConclusionsHAI rates of primary BSI in the NICU could be regulated by the effective implementation of HAI surveillance, HH monitoring, feedback meetings with the NICU staff and other simple interventional measures even in resource-limited setups.

English Education Students’ Perception on the Use of Elena in the Post-Pandemic Era

Elena, an e-learning aid based on MOODLE version 2.0 developed by Universitas Negeri Semarang, is used to support the teaching and learning process as a response to the post COVID-19 outbreak. In English Education study program, Elena is mostly used not only for the lecturer to upload the materials, but also for the students to have discussion session, do assignment, exam, and quiz. However, as we shift from full online classes to ofline classes, it is important for all the parties and stakeholders to re-evaluate the use of Elena in teaching and learning process in post pandemic era, especially for students as the main user. A descriptive study was conducted by giving questionnaire and having in-depth interview to 100 students who participated. The results shows that students have positive perception towards the use of Elena in post-pandemic era to support the teaching and learning process, especially in learning language. However, some improvement such as make Elena into application rather than web-based learning aid, improve the user interface, and add live notification synchronized into students’ Telegram bot or MyUNNES should be considered.

Volatility implications on IT index during pre and post COVID-19 outbreak: Evidence from India

Volatility implications on IT index during pre and post COVID-19 outbreak: Evidence from India

Volatility implications on IT index during pre and post COVID-19 outbreak: evidence from India

Volatility implications on IT index during pre and post COVID-19 outbreak: evidence from India

Building resilience for sustainability of MSMEs post COVID-19 outbreak: An Indian handicraft industry outlook

The handicraft business constitutes concept selling rather than mere product selling, which is highly dependent on demand. Handicrafts' Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have an expanding market in developed countries. The impact of the pandemic on this industry is severe due to the industry's informal nature and seasonal demand. The survival and resilience of these handicraft MSMEs face many challenges in the post-COVID-19 outbreak. The focus of the present study is to understand and analyze the key challenges for building resilience in handicraft MSMEs by scrutinizing the existing literature and interactions with stakeholders. EFA and the Grey DEMATEL approach are used to analyze the challenges for the adoption of resilience. EFA is used to categorize the challenges into various dimensions. The study has divided the challenges for the inclusion of resilience into survivable, sustainable, and viable categories using EFA to plan for short- and long-term business growth. Grey DEMATEL is being utilized for understanding these contextual relationships for each resilience dimension. Grey systems theory is a methodology that enables the incorporation of improbability and vagueness into the analysis. Findings of the study revealed the influencing challenges for each of the dimensions such as competition from machine-made products, insufficient government support and incentives for export, and inefficient managerial concern and response to internationalization as the prominent challenges. The results of this study illustrate the causal relationships amongst the identified resilience challenges to the various stakeholders. These findings offer practical insights for the government to allocate resources and impose measures to ensure resilience, as well as understanding the cause-effect relationship. Managerial implications and Policy insights for building the resilience of handicraft MSMEs are discussed in detail.

Understanding public transport use intention post Covid-19 outbreak using modified theory of planned behavior: Case study from developing country perspective

Use of public transportation by regular commuters can help to reduce congestion and pollution in cities. Improving public transportation facilties may not be sufficient to improve its use and understanding the factors that determine use intention may help to improve public transport use specially for young adults who travel for work regularly. The current work aims to systematically assess public transport use intention for regular commuters below the age of 45 years, who may continue using or switch to public transport when facilities improve in Indian context post Covid-19 outbreak using a modified Theory of Planned Behavior framework. The work considers public transport improvement from two aspects, first, improvement in availability, which ensures less crowding, so that peoples’ perceived safety improves from social distancing perspective and second, reduced travel times. It could be observed from this study that out of the demographic variables annual family income and education significantly affected use intentions but not family size and gender. It was observed in Indian context that social norms significantly affected public transport use intentions, but not an individual’s attitude indicating that individuals are more concerned about social mandates over their personal preferences. Also, a person who has traveled in public transport mode in recent past was observed to have greater intent to continue using public transport than those who did not. Interestingly, people with higher income and education levels showed greater intent of public transport use. The observations from this study may be used for designing focused interventions to improve public transport use intentions in developing countries like India.

Changes in temporal pattern and spatial distribution of environmental pollutants in 8 Asian countries owing to COVID-19 pandemic

This study investigated the changes in air pollutant's concentration, spatio-temporal distribution and sensitivity of changes in air pollutant's concentration during pre and post COVID-19 outbreak. We employed Google Earth Engine Platform to access remote sensing datasets of air pollutants across Asian continent. Air pollution and cumulative confirmed-COVID cases data of Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia) have been collected and analyzed for 2019 and 2020. The results indicate that aerosol index (AI) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is significantly reduced during COVID outbreak i.e. in year 2020. In addition, we found significantly positive (P < 0.05, 95% confidence interval, two-tailed) correlation between changes in AI and NO2 concentration for net active-COVID case increment in almost each country. For other atmospheric gases i.e. carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), ozone (O3), and Sulfur dioxide (SO2), insignificant and/or significant negative correlation is also observed. These results suggest that the atmospheric concentration of AI and NO2 are good indicators of human activities. Furthermore, the changes in O3 shows significantly negative correlation for net active-COVID case increment. In conclusion, we observed significant positive environmental impact of COVID-19 restrictions in Asia. This study would help and assist environmentalist and policy makers in restraining air pollution by implementing efficient restrictions on human activities with minimal economic loss.

Prediction analysis on the pre and post COVID outbreak assessment using machine learning and deep learning

&lt;span&gt;In this time of a global urgency where people are losing lives each day in a large number, people are trying to develop ways/technology to solve the challenges of COVID-19. Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools have been employed previously as well to the times of pandemic where they have proven their worth by providing reliable results in varied fields this is why ML tools are being used extensively to fight this pandemic as well. This review describes the applications of ML in the post and pre COVID-19 conditions for contact tracing, vaccine development, prediction and diagnosis, risk management, and outbreak predictions to help the healthcare system to work efficiently. This review discusses the ongoing research on the pandemic virus where various ML models have been employed to a certain data set to produce outputs that can be used for risk or outbreak prediction of virus in the population, vaccine development, and contact tracing. Thus, the significance and the contribution of ML against COVID-19 are self-explanatory but what should not be compromised is the quality and accuracy based on which solutions/methods/policies adopted or produced from this analysis which will be implied in the real world to real people.&lt;/span&gt;

Library service experience during and post COVID-19 outbreak: the case of the National Library of China

Faced with the threat of COVID-19 outbreak, public libraries developed innovative practices to deal with the pandemic by providing information service, expanding online and digital service and reading promotion activities. The aim of the study is to explore the service experience of the National Library of China during the outbreak and after the reopening. It is found that the enrichment of online and digital services, as well as the combination with the use of social media, facilitate the service provided during the closure and also bring new angels into the development of libraries in the post pandemic era.

Implementation of physiotherapy telerehabilitation before and post Covid-19 outbreak: A comparative narrative between South American countries and Australia.

The continuous development in telecommunication tech-nologies has created opportunities for health professionals to optimise healthcare delivery by adopting digital tools into rehabilitation programs (i.e., telerehabilitation). These tech-nological advances, along with the demographic and social characteristics of each country, have made the implementa-tion of telerehabilitation a disparate process across regions. We have gathered the experience of four countries (Australia, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia) in two different regions (Ocea-nia and South America) to recompile the history pre- and post-Covid-19 outbreak until January of 2021, the barriers to, and facilitators of telerehabilitation, and outline the future challenges for these countries.

Clinical Frailty Assessment and Associated Outcomes Through COVID-19 Outbreak in a Long-Term Care Facility

Frailty is a syndrome characterized by decreased physiologic reserve resulting from decline across multiple physiologic systems. It is a common condition among elderly patients in nursing homes and has been linked to increased risk of adverse health outcomes. The association of frailty with health and quality of life outcomes in these living in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic is not well understood. Evaluation of Frailty in nursing home residents might help provide an identification tool to recognize patients who are likely to have poor outcomes including rapid deterioration or significant functional decline. Demographics, weights, and functional measures were collected from the electronic medical records and physical therapy records of the residents at a single nursing home in West Virginia. Data was collected from prior to the first positive case at the facility and at the 6-month mark after the first case. A clinical frailty assessment was created using a modified FRAIL-NH scale. Weight loss values were chosen at 2.5% and 5% for the scale. Fatigue was measured using patients’ ability to maintain static balance in sitting and standing positions. The remaining measures were obtained using data from the Modified Barthel Index. Frailty scores were compared pre and post COVID-19 outbreak and infection status to assess risk factors for worsening of frailty status. Preliminary results showed that half of the facility met the cutoffs for frailty initially, with a quarter of the total being pre-frial and a quarter being non-frail. Using Mantel-Haenszel Chi-Square testing, Frailty was compared against sex, dementia, CHF, CVA, CAD, diabetes, asthma, COVID-19 infection, and severe COVID-19 symptoms for pre and post COVID outbreak frailty scores. Only patients with dementia met statistical significance for increased risk of frailty (P= 0.0022). Frailty scores before and after the COVID-19 outbreak at the facility did not show any significant change. COVID-19 infection and/or symptoms were not linked to worsening of or the development of frailty. Further analysis of the subset of patients who did show a decline in frailty score is currently underway. *Finalized data will be presented on the final poster. Frail elderly adults in nursing homes are at high risk for clinical decline and mortality, especially in the setting of a global pandemic. Early recognition of these patients could help identify those at risk for rapid deterioration if they acquire the virus. This study identified nursing home patients who were pre-frail and frail and followed their medical outcome to identify if they were at increased risk for a negative outcome. This objective version of the Frail-NH scale did help identify frail individuals in this facility, but it did not show any correlation between COVID-19 severity and worsening of frailty. Further investigation into those with frailty decline is ongoing to develop a better understanding of what places those patients at higher risk so a targeted intervention can be made.

Bibliometric Analysis of the Coronavirus Research Publications Data before and after the Outbreak of the COVID A Comparison

This study analyses the research publications data about Coronavirus before and after the Covid-19 outbreak, to answer vital questions relevant to the Coronavirus research. The objectives of this study are to compare the Coronavirus research publications and tries to distinguish the pre and post Covid-19 outbreak trend in Coronavirus research, in the context of research areas, publications growth pattern, country and institutional contributions, funding agencies, language distribution, publishers and journal preferences, etc. It also tries to visualise the institutional and country-wide collaboration patterns in the Coronavirus research using the VOSviewer visualisation software. This study is based on the data retrieved from the Web of Science database for two time-frames, such as 1965 to 31st December 2019, and 1st January 2020 to 30th June 2021. This study reveals that, 89 per cent of the Coronavirus research publications were brought out after the Covid-19 outbreak, and research on Coronavirus has been undertaken in diversified areas in contrast to the prior period where it was mainly on virology, veterinary science, infectious diseases, microbiology, immunology, etc. It shows that USA and China continued to stand on top of the Coronavirus publications share, and the research collaboration between various countries and institutions has improved during 2020-21. It shows that over 97 per cent of the Coronavirus publications are in the English and the majority of the publications are in the journals published by Elsevier in both periods. During 2020-21 the Journal of Virology lost its upper hand in publishing the Coronavirus research publications.

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on NSE sectoral indices. Design/methodology/approach -The performance of the stock market indices is evaluated using the event study methodology. The estimation window (-158, -29) comprises of 130 days and used to estimate the abnormal returns pre and post COVID-19 outbreak. We divided the whole event window into four small event windows such as short event window (0, 9), lockdown phase 1 (10, 20), lockdown phase 2 (21, 32), lockdown phase 3 (33, 39). Findings -Our results of the pre-event window and short event window support the negative impact of COVID-19 outbreak on stock market indices’ performance. The COVID-19 outbreak hurts the sentiments of investors and increase the investment fear that causes panic selling among investors. The results of event windows lockdown phase 1 and phase 2 reveal that the indices outperform in these phases which suggests that the stock market welcomes the implementation of a nationwide lockdown to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus. In the great uncertainty of COVID-19 outbreak and its associated financial and non-financial losses increase the high volatility in the stock markets. Therefore, stock market indices underperform in lockdown phase 3 and phase 4. Finally, this study is an evident that the COVID-19 pandemic badly affected the performance of all sectoral indices. Originality/value–To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first papers of its kind which examines the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on stock market sector-wise indices in India. Research limitations/implications– In the great uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak, stock market regulators and the central bank could intervene to revive the confidence of stock market participants. Findings of the study suggest that investors could adapt the long term investment strategy in weaken market conditions and the response would be to buy the stocks. Future researchers could examine the herd behavior in the stock market participants in the pandemic conditions.

Is cash flow growth helping stock performance during the COVID-19 outbreak? Evidence from Indonesia

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unexpected event that causes stock market investors to panic so that their value drops drastically. Operating cash flow and free cash flow are indicators of a company’s financial statements that are used as a reference for investors’ decision making in the stock market. A firm’s cash flows reflect real changes in the firm’s value for money. Cash flow growth can provide information on how well the firm’s performance is in generating incremental cash inflows that can increase firm value. This study aims to explore the relationship between cash flow growth before the COVID-19 pandemic and after the COVID-19 outbreak on stock price performance. This study uses the OLS regression method with a total sample of 426 companies in the Indonesian capital market in the period March 2, 2020 to March 2, 2021. The results show that cash flow growth from operations and free cash flow growth had no significant effect on stock return after COVID-19 outbreaks in years 2020 to 2021. Sales growth, market capitalization and stock return before the COVID-19 outbreak from 2019 to 2020 had a significant negative correlation with the post COVID-19 outbreak stock return. Then, sectors whose stock performance is positively correlated after the COVID-19 outbreak are basic industry, chemicals, miscellaneous industry and infrastructure. This shows that the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 is an anomaly in the stock market. Therefore, cash flow is not relevant information for investors in predicting a company’s performance during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

One-year changes in the prevalence and positive psychological correlates of depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic among medical science students in northeast of Iran.

ObjectivesThe COVID‐19 pandemic has imposed a significant psychological burden on many across society especially students studying medical sciences. This study intended to investigate the one‐year changes in the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms during the COVID‐19 pandemic among medical science students.MethodsA cross‐sectional study in Shahroud, Iran administering a convenience sampling method (January to February 2021). Online self‐reported questionnaires included Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale, Paloutzian‐Ellison Spiritual Well‐Being Questionnaire, Diener's Satisfaction with Life Scale and the University Student Depression Inventory. Data analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Independent t‐test and Multiple Regression Analysis).ResultsA total of 306 medical science students were investigated in this study. The mean scores 1 year after the outbreak of COVID‐19 were for depression (81.25 ± 26.04), spiritual well‐being (80.98 ± 18.06), self‐esteem (26.89 ± 2.20), and life satisfaction (19.68 ± 6.81). The results indicated that depression mean score was significantly higher in post outbreak assessment (71.92 ± 22.94 vs 81.25 ± 26.04) (P < .001). Fifty percentage of changes in depression can be predicted by studied variables. A high score of depression was directly associated with a higher level of self‐esteem. Moreover, increased interest in the field, scores of spiritual well‐being, and life satisfaction were inversely and significantly associated with depression.ConclusionsIran's education system has been significantly affected, with the addition to the COVID‐19 pandemic imposing a psychological burden such as depression, exacerbating this within medical science students compared to a year ago. Spiritual well‐being and life satisfaction as positive psychology constructs were recognized as protective factors against depression during the pandemic. Spiritual and social support should be integrated in psychological interventions within university settings for medical science students.

Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak on Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on daily routines and health of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).Study design: A cross-sectional study.Methods: This study included 98 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes who were regularly followed up in the Endocrinology outpatient clinic of Besat Hospital, Hamadan, Iran, in 2020. The primary measurements included body mass index, glycemic control, number of hypoglycemic events, number of hospitalizations, as well as bedtime and availability of insulin six months pre and post COVID-19 outbreak. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 16). A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Out of 98 participants (mean ±SD age: 13.5±49), 51% of the cases were male, and %81.6 of the patients were urban residents. Furthermore, most participants (43.9%) were in the age group of 11-15 years, and the mean ±SD duration of diabetes was 4.64±3.31 years. In addition, 2.04% of the participants developed COVID-19. There was a statistically significant difference among average duration of night sleep (P<0.001), bedtime (P<0.001), time of waking up (P<0.001), amount of insulin intake (P=0.003), daily exercise (P<0.001), and availability of the insulin (P<0.001) before and during COVID-19 crisis. The frequencies of hospitalizations and hypoglycemic events were lower after the COVID-19 outbreak (P=0.005 and P=0.034, respectively). Morning insulin dose was omitted in 22.2% of participants. No differences were found between hemoglobin A1c and daytime sleep pre and post COVID-19 outbreak.Conclusions: The key challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions for Iranian T1DM patients were the need to take more insulin, lower physical activity, non-availability of insulin, and missed morning insulin dose. However, it is worth mentioning that the patients' blood glucose control did not worsen in this period.

Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak on Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Background : This study aimed to investigate the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on daily routines and health of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Study design : A cross-sectional study. Methods: This study included 98 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes who were regularly followed up in the Endocrinology outpatient clinic of Besat Hospital, Hamadan, Iran, in 2020. The primary measurements included body mass index, glycemic control, number of hypoglycemic events, number of hospitalizations, as well as bedtime and availability of insulin six months pre and post COVID-19 outbreak. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 16). A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Out of 98 participants (mean±SD age: 13.5±49), 51% of the cases were male, and %81.6 of the patients were urban residents. Furthermore, most participants (43.9%) were in the age group of 11-15 years, and the mean±SD duration of diabetes was 4.64±3.31 years. In addition, 2.04% of the participants developed COVID-19. There was a statistically significant difference among average duration of night sleep (P<0.001), bedtime (P<0.001), time of waking up (P<0.001), amount of insulin intake (P=0.003), daily exercise (P<0.001), and availability of the insulin (P<0.001) before and during COVID-19 crisis. The frequencies of hospitalizations and hypoglycemic events were lower after the COVID-19 outbreak (P=0.005 and P=0.034, respectively). Morning insulin dose was omitted in 22.2% of participants. No differences were found between hemoglobin A1c and daytime sleep pre and post COVID-19 outbreak. Conclusions : The key challenges due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions for Iranian T1DM patients were the need to take more insulin, lower physical activity, non-availability of insulin, and missed morning insulin dose. However, it is worth mentioning that the patients' blood glucose control did not worsen in this period.

Post COVID-19 changes in the perception of the parents towards dentistry for their child

The aim of the study is to evaluate the post COVID changes in the perception of the parents towards dentistry for their child/children.A cross-sectional questionnaire based survey was conducted among the parents of children &amp;#60;18 years of age to assess the behavioral changes in the parents after the COVID-19 outbreak towards pediatric dentistry. The survey was carried out with a sample of 5110 respondents.Majority of the parents had correct knowledge regarding the COVID-19 with increase in their anxiety level post COVID-19 outbreak. Almost all the parents were taking the measures regarding the hygiene of their children. Nearly half of the parents were not willing to take their children to the dentist even in the emergency dental condition due to the risk of encountering corona virus at the dental clinic.The majority of respondents lacked confidence towards dentistry, their treatment environments, and the infection control measures taken, and were worried about contracting COVID-19 infection from the dental setting. Parents, however, demanded better infection control measures during the SARS outbreak. From the results of our survey, it is imperative that dentists and dental specialist like pediatric dentists should offer more confidence building measures towards the patients &amp; their parents, involving them in the dental treatment planning as well as decision making and providing them timely appraisal regarding the same.

A study of prevalence of MDROs pre and post COVID-19 outbreak

A study of prevalence of MDROs pre and post COVID-19 outbreak