COVID-19 Preparedness Research Articles

Examining Bangladesh’s responses to COVID-19 in light of Vietnam: Lessons learned

This review aimed to examine the extent of Bangladesh’s COVID-19 preparedness and control measures up to 20 January 2021, and to draw some lessons for informing the current and future pandemic responses in Bangladesh in light of Vietnam’s responses, which had successfully controlled the pandemic. We performed a content analysis of data to identify similarities and critical discrepancies in epidemiological features and COVID-19 responses between the two countries. Findings indicated that Vietnam reported lower COVID-19 incidence (15 cases per million) and death rate (0.4 cases per million) than Bangladesh, with 3,129 cases per million and a death rate of 46 cases per million. Vietnam reported only 35 deaths, with 22 older individuals (>60 years) compared with 7,950 deaths in Bangladesh, with the highest death rate in older people (45%). An integrated approach combined with widespread contact tracing, better health investment, vaccine development, and strong political commitment enabled Vietnam to control the disease and mitigate its impacts. In contrast, Bangladesh seemed to adopt inadequate and untimely measures in the same domains, potentially contributing to relatively high COVID-19 infections and death rates. To control COVID-19 or inform responses to future pandemics, Bangladesh and similar countries can learn eight lessons from Vietnam. Such transferable responses could prepare health systems and populations for an appropriate global response to the next potential pandemic.

424. The Impact of COVID-19 Response on Infection Prevention Programs and Practices in Southeastern United States

BackgroundEarly assessments of COVID19 preparedness reported resource shortages, use of crisis capacity strategies, variations in testing, personal protective equipment (PPE), and policies in US hospitals. One year later, we performed a follow-up survey to assess changes in infection prevention practice and policies in our diverse network of community and academic hospitals.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional electronic survey of infection preventionists in 58 hospitals within the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (community) and Duke/UNC Health systems (academic) in April-May 2021 to follow-up our initial survey from April 2020. The follow-up survey included 26 questions related to resource availability, crisis capacity strategies, procedures, changes to PPE and testing, and staffing challenges. ResultsWe received 54 responses (response rate, 93%). Facilities reported significantly fewer PPE and resource shortages in the follow-up survey compared to our initial survey (Figure 1, P< 0.05). Only 32% of respondents were still reprocessing N95 respirators (compared to 73% in initial survey, P< 0.05). All hospitals performed universal masking, universal symptom screening on entry, and 30% required eye protection. In 2020, most hospitals suspended elective surgical procedures in March-April, and restarted in May-June. Approximately 92% reported in-house testing for SARS-COV-2 by April 2020, at least a third of which had a weekly capacity of >100 tests. Almost 80% performed universal pre-operative testing, while 61% performed universal preadmission testing for SARS-COV-2. Almost all hospitals switched from test-based to time-based strategy for discontinuing isolation precautions, majority in August-September 2020. Twenty-five percent hospitals reported infection prevention furloughs, staffing cuts, and or reassignments, while 81% reported increased use of agency nursing during the pandemic.ConclusionOur follow-up survey reveals improvement in resource availability, evolution of PPE guidance, increase in testing capacity, and burdensome staffing changes. Our serial surveys suggest increasing uniformity in infection prevention policies, but also highlight the increase in staff turnover and infection prevention staffing shortages.Disclosures Sonali D. Advani, MBBS, MPH, Nothing to disclose David J. Weber, MD, MPH, PDI (Consultant)

Pharmacists' experiences of consumer stockpiling: insights from COVID‐19

BackgroundConsumer stockpiling from pharmacies has been reported by media outlets throughout the course of COVID‐19.AimThis study evaluated pharmacists’ perceptions of consumer stockpiling from pharmacies, the impact of stockpiling, aggressive or hostile behaviour from customers and preparedness for COVID‐19 and future pandemics.MethodA self‐administered survey was disseminated between September and November of 2020. The survey comprised four major sections: demographic information, experiences of consumer stockpiling, impact of consumer stockpiling and preparedness for COVID‐19 and future pandemics. Survey results were analysed in Microsoft Excel using descriptive statistics.ResultsOf the 56 responses analysed, most pharmacists observed consumer stockpiling of over‐the‐counter products (98.2%), schedule 2 and schedule 3 medications (92.8%) and prescription only medications (94.6%). The most commonly stockpiled items included face masks, hand‐sanitisers and wipes, alcohol wipes and antiseptic solutions, thermometers, paracetamol and salbutamol inhalers. Patients also requested the dispensing of several months’ supply of regular prescription medications. Customer aggression was observed by 53.6% of pharmacists, with 63% of pharmacists agreeing that hostile behaviour impeded their practice. Only 36.7% of pharmacists felt adequately prepared to cope with the challenges of COVID‐19.ConclusionConsumer stockpiling from pharmacies was observed throughout COVID‐19. Stockpiling as well as aggressive and hostile behaviour from customers affected pharmacists, their staff, business and other pharmacy customers. Additional studies are needed to investigate the severity of these issues and to inform policy changes to help mitigate consumer stockpiling and prepare the pharmacy profession for future pandemics.

KNOWLEDGE REGARDING COVID- 19 AMONG THE ADOLESCENT STUDENTS

Speaking to WHO personnel who are based in all states/UTs in India, via video conference in April 2020, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health &amp; Family Welfare said, “WHO is an important partner in our ght against the COVID-19. I really value guidance and contributions made by the WHO in containing spread of COVID-19 across the country.” The WHO Country Ofce for India (WCO India) has been working closely with the Government of India (GoI) to step-up preparedness and response measures for COVID-19, including surveillance and contact tracing, laboratory testing, risk communications and community engagement, hospital preparedness, infection prevention and control, and implementation of containment plan at all three levels of the health system – national, state and district. The entire eld presence, including the National Public Health Surveillance Project, consisting of more than 2000 personnel has been fully re-purposed to support the government to overcome this challenge. At the national level, WCO India is providing technical support to the Ministry of Health &amp; Family Welfare (MoHFW) through the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) and working closely with National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), National Disaster Management Authority and NITI Aayog. WHO teams are also supporting National and State Governments in ensuring essential health services such as immunisation, reproductive maternal newborn child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), non-communicable diseases and priority communicable diseases are available. Thus the investigator would like to take up the present study to assess the knowledge and attitude regarding use of contraception methods among female students. Objectives Of The Study: 1. To assess the knowledge regarding covid -19 amongadoloscent students. Method: The research approach adopted for the study was quantitative evaluative and the research design wasdescriptive survey design. By using non-probability, purposive sampling 100 adoloscent students from D. Y. PATILJunior college, Kolhapur. Structured knowledge questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge of adoloscent students regarding covid -19.The data was collected on socio demographic variables and knowlwdge questionnaire on Covid-19.After obtaining permission from the principals of junior colleges, Data were analyzed by using mean, median, mode, standard deviation, range. Results: After analysis of knowledge scores among 100 adoloscent students regarding covid -19 .Maximum number of 88 (88%) adolescent students had average knowledge and minimum 12 (12%) adolescent students had good knowledge While 0 (0%) adolescent students had poor knowledge Among 100 adolescent student. Interpretation And Conclusion: The present study revealed that Overall test of knowledge regarding the Covid -19 among adolescent students was average.

Knowledge of and preparedness for COVID-19 among Somali healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional study.

Somalia is considered severely underprepared to contain an outbreak of COVID-19, with critical shortages in healthcare personnel and treatment resources. In limited-resource settings such as Somalia, providing healthcare workers with adequate information on COVID-19 is crucial to improve patient outcomes and mitigate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study assessed the knowledge of, preparedness for, and perceptions toward COVID-19 prevention and treatment among Somali healthcare workers. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was completed by 364 Somali healthcare workers in summer of 2020 utilizing a convenience sampling method. Participants' most accessed sources of COVID-19 information were from social media (64.8%), official government and international health organization websites (51.1%,), and traditional media sources such as radio, TV, and newspapers (48.1%). A majority of participants demonstrated strong knowledge of treatment of COVID-19, the severity of COVID-19, and the possible outcomes of COVID-19, but only 5 out of 10 symptoms listed were correctly identified by more than 75% of participants. Although participants indicated seeing a median number of 10 patients per week with COVID-19 related symptoms, access to essential medical resources, such as N95 masks (30.2%), facial protective shields (24.5%), and disposable gowns (21.4%), were limited. Moreover, 31.3% agreed that Somalia was in a good position to contain an emerging outbreak of COVID-19. In addition, 40.4% of participants agreed that the Somali government's response to the pandemic was sufficient to protect Somali healthcare professionals. This study provides evidence for the need to equip Somali healthcare providers with more information, personal protective equipment, and treatment resources such that they can safely and adequately care for COVID-19 patients and contain the spread of the virus. Social media and traditional news outlets may be effective outlets to communicate information regarding COVID-19 and the Somali government's response to frontline healthcare workers.

Preparedness and Readiness Strategies for Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Fragile and Conflict Settings: Experiences of the Gaza Strip.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health threat of serious concern, especially in conflict settings that face fragility and lack adequate resources and capacities. Gaza suffers from a blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation, environmental deterioration, confiscation of lands, demolition of houses and hospitals, restrictions on movement, lack of control over natural resources, and financial constraints. Gaza's population is consequently living in a poor humanitarian situation with high unemployment rates, poverty, over-crowdedness, and a weak health system. This makes Gaza incredibly fragile and affects its ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic effectively. The pandemic is expected to deepen Gaza's systems' fragility, which is already overstretched beyond their limits. This will hinder its capacity to deal with the pandemic, and other pre-existing pressing humanitarian needs. Therefore, in this review, we comprehensively explored Gaza's policy failures and successes related to the COVID-19 preparedness and response by state and non-state actors and recommend potential solutions and alternatives. We have addressed critical issues including the health system, water, sanitation, hygiene, socio-economic, education, food security, and others. In Gaza, effectiveness in combating the COVID-19 pandemic can only come from committed political will, transparency from all regulators, strategic dialogue, comprehensive planning, and active international support.

Network Modeling and Analysis of COVID-19 Testing Strategies.

The COVID-19 preparedness plans by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly underscores the need for efficient and effective testing strategies. This, in turn, calls upon the design and development of statistical sampling and testing of COVID-19 strategies. However, the evaluation of operational details requires a detailed representation of human behaviors in epidemic simulation models. Traditional epidemic simulations are mainly based upon system dynamic models, which use differential equations to study macro-level and aggregated behaviors of population subgroups. As such, individual behaviors (e.g., personal protection, commute conditions, social patterns) can't be adequately modeled and tracked for the evaluation of health policies and action strategies. Therefore, this paper presents a network-based simulation model to optimize COVID-19 testing strategies for effective identifications of virus carriers in a spatial area. Specifically, we design a data-driven risk scoring system for statistical sampling and testing of COVID-19. This system collects real-time data from simulated networked behaviors of individuals in the spatial network to support decision-making during the virus spread process. Experimental results showed that this framework has superior performance in optimizing COVID-19 testing decisions and effectively identifying virus carriers from the population.

Preparedness and response to covid-19 in Woreta Town, North West Ethiopia

Preparedness and early response are proved to be best solutions for a pandemic situation. Well prepared countries have succeeded in containing the transfer of the disease and minimized its adverse impact. Ethiopia has adopted Covid-19 preparedness and response plan. Its implementation has brought good outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore deeper in to a grass roots situation. It focused particularly on Covid-19 preparedness and response in Woreta town, Northwest Ethiopia. The study employed a qualitative approach. Data were collected from Covid-19 prevention task force members, health care workers and community members using a semi-structured interview. The data collection was conducted from September to October 2020. A framework approach and open code 4.02 software were used in the analysis. The results showed that various structures, including a Covid-19 task force, are created to take preparatory and response measures in the area. As the enforcement of preventive measures is declining, residents continue to be less engaged in their practice of Covid-19 instructions. Generally, the preparedness and response were low in health facilities and in the community. Thus, the local government has to strengthen a persistent and well-informed risk communication by broadening its social base. The existing politicization, rumor, denial and suspicion associated to COVID-19 can only be addresses by implementing a transparent and persuasive communication strategy. The health workers need to renew their effort to transmit health messages. The task force has to consider the pandemic as a strategic problem rather than a short time issue. So, it has to develop a plan to guide its activity. It also need to strengthen its partnership to better enforce preventive guidelines. On the other hand, community members shall not be deceived by the coming of COVID-19 vaccines. Rather they have to focus on prevention mechanisms.

Variations in COVID-19 airway management and preparedness among Victorian hospitals

The COVID-19 pandemic presents significant concerns surrounding the risk of transmission to health care workers involved in airway management of patients with suspected or known infection. Limited evidence has been available to guide the preparation of staff, intubation environments, team structure and personal protective equipment. Our study invited Victorian hospitals to complete a survey on their airway management practices and protocols, in order to assess the degree of variability in practice and preparedness. Twenty hospitals responded in September 2020, during Victoria’s second wave of COVID-19. Forty percent had dedicated COVID-19 intubation teams, all including consultant anaesthetists. Seventy-five percent had negatively pressured dedicated intubation rooms. All provided airborne precautions including N95 masks for airway and cardiac arrest management of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 positive patients, with 35 per sent providing N95 mask fit-testing and 15 per cent providing powered air purifying respirators or elastomeric respirators. Thirty-five percent provided airborne precautions for cardiac arrest management of patients not suspected to be COVID-19 positive. Significant inter-hospital variations were reported in airway management practices, such as pre-oxygenation, bag-mask ventilation, medications and techniques to minimise aerosolisation. Although some of this variation was likely due to individual hospital infrastructure and resource limitations, it would be ideal to achieve a more consistent, standardised approach across Victorian hospitals. This study may highlight areas for improvement for some hospitals. These areas for improvement may include consideration of the establishment of COVID-19 intubation teams in at least major metropolitan hospitals, N95 mask fit-testing, and the use of airborne precautions for cardiac arrest management during times of increased community prevalence of COVID-19.

Hope and Fear in the Midst of Coronavirus: What Accounts for COVID-19 Preparedness?

Objective: The present study asks the question: What variables accounted for people’s tendencies to take steps to prepare for COVID-19 during the earliest stage of the pandemic? Data collection took place from March 6 to 11, 2020. In particular, the study examines variables that have been shown to predict health behavior in previous research outside the context of the present pandemic, including hope, optimism, perceived risk, fear, and mental health variables. Method: Participants (222 adults in 39 U.S. states) were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Online surveys included the Adult Hope Scale (AHS), Life Orientation Test (LOT-R), Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Impact of Events Scale (IES-R), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Also included were items inquiring about COVID-19 perceived mortality risk, fear/anxiety, and preparedness. Results and Conclusion: Participants were asked to imagine that COVID-19 had different hypothetical levels of mortality risk, ranging from 1 to 10 percent mortality (at the time of data collection, the WHO estimated actual mortality of the disease at approximately 3 percent). For each level, participants rated the degree to which they would be willing to take steps to prepare and protect themselves from the disease on a 7-point scale. Nearly 49 percent of participants said they would be relatively unlikely (i.e., provided a rating below the midpoint of the scale) to take steps to protect themselves if the mortality rate were at the 3 percent level. Stepwise multiple regression including the aforementioned predictors showed that three variables accounted for unique variance in participants’ levels of current preparedness: COVID-19 fear/anxiety, posttraumatic stress (as measured by the IES-R), and hope. Implications of these results are briefly discussed in the context of raising preparedness given that future public health crises are likely inevitable.

Priority setting and equity in COVID-19 pandemic plans: a comparative analysis of 18 African countries.

Priority setting represents an even bigger challenge during public health emergencies than routine times. This is because such emergencies compete with routine programmes for the available health resources, strain health systems and shift health-care attention and resources towards containing the spread of the epidemic and treating those that fall seriously ill. This paper is part of a larger global study, the aim of which is to evaluate the degree to which national COVID-19 preparedness and response plans incorporated priority setting concepts. It provides important insights into what and how priority decisions were made in the context of a pandemic. Specifically, with a focus on a sample of 18 African countries’ pandemic plans, the paper aims to: (1) explore the degree to which the documented priority setting processes adhere to established quality indicators of effective priority setting and (2) examine if there is a relationship between the number of quality indicators present in the pandemic plans and the country’s economic context, health system and prior experiences with disease outbreaks. All the reviewed plans contained some aspects of expected priority setting processes but none of the national plans addressed all quality parameters. Most of the parameters were mentioned by less than 10 of the 18 country plans reviewed, and several plans identified one or two aspects of fair priority setting processes. Very few plans identified equity as a criterion for priority setting. Since the parameters are relevant to the quality of priority setting that is implemented during public health emergencies and most of the countries have pre-existing pandemic plans; it would be advisable that, for the future (if not already happening), countries consider priority setting as a critical part of their routine health emergency and disease outbreak plans. Such an approach would ensure that priority setting is integral to pandemic planning, response and recovery.

International legal mechanism for ensuring the right of women prisoners to health.

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of international legal acts regulating the right of women prisoners to health; focuses on problematic issues that need to be addressed, including: creating a safe environment for the health of women prisoners, provision of medical care, protection during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article highlights provisions of the following universal and regional acts of a general nature, which regulate the provision of medical care to prisoners and establish special rules on the status of women prisoners: the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules) (1955 amended); European Prison Rules (2006); the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) (2010). The materials of the international specialized structures of the United Nations, in particular the World Health Organization, namely its European Regional Office, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, etc., which focus on ensuring the right of women prisoners to health, have also been considered. They are: “Health in prisons. A WHO guide to the essentials in prison health” (2008), “Women’s health in prison. Action guidance and checklists to review current policies and practices” (2011), “Prisons and Health” (2014), Joint Statement of International Global Health Institutions, during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime position paper outlining COVID-19 preparedness and responses in prisons etc. The emphasis is placed on practical significance of the webinars “Building Networks Behind Prison Walls” initiated by the United Nations and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which exchange positive practices, develop common approaches to prevention and treatment of certain diseases, continuity of providing medical care for those in need after release, reintegration of prisoners after release into local communities. Relevant conclusions and recommendations have been made in order to improve the situation in the area of ensuring the right of women prisoners to health and the provision of medical care.

Will Anti-Epidemic Campus Signals Affect College Students' Preparedness in the Post-COVID-19 Era?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a tremendous global threat and challenge for human beings, and individuals need to be prepared for the next wave of the outbreak, especially in the educational setting. Limited research has focused on individual knowledge, awareness, and preparedness of COVID-19 in postsecondary institutions in the post-COVID-19 era so far. This study aimed to explore whether students’ perceived anti-epidemic campus signals had effects on their awareness of and preparedness for COVID-19. Leveraging the data collected from full-time college students in a province located in East China and building a structural regression model, we found that students’ perceived anti-epidemic campus signals were significantly associated with their awareness of and preparedness for COVID-19. With one perceived signal decrease, there were 0.099 unit and 0.051 unit decreases in students’ awareness and preparedness, respectively. In addition, we indeed found that female students had a higher awareness and better preparedness than their male peers. These findings provided important implications for postsecondary administrators and policymakers, as well as future research.

Study on the undergraduate interns of a medical college in eastern India: the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding COVID-19 pandemic preparation

Background: With the rapid propagation of the SARS-COV-2 or COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare facility around the world has been stretched a large extent. To keep the green supply chain to the healthcare resources ready for the battle, sufficient knowledge, proper attitude and adequate practices are of paramount necessity. Aims and Objectives: The study was done to the knowledge, practice and attitudes towards COVID-19 pandemic preparedness among the undergraduate medical interns of a tertiary care teaching center in Eastern India. Materials and Methods: Semi-structured proforma for socio-demographic details and KAP Questionnaire for COVID-19 preparedness were circulated among the Interns. Interaction among the subsets of the KAP scale as well as their association with different socio-demographic variables were studied. Results: Out of the 138 subjects participated in the study the KAP parameters were not significantly different based on the socio-demographic factors barring presence of better practices among the female interns and less score on knowledge and attitude in presence of Psychiatric illness. It was seen that better practice was significantly correlated with knowledge mean score. Conclusion: The study implied that training on the updated knowledge along with exposure to simulated environment with scheduled supervision to reflect the behavior of the interns was of great importance so that in extreme situation, the less experienced resources could also come handy into utilization if needed.

IS COVID-19 PREPAREDNESS AND ANXIETY CORRELATED? EMERGING DISEASE OUTBREAKS IN THE THAI CONTEXTS

It has been almost a half year since COVID-19 has forced all nations to speed up their outbreak preparedness as it simultaneously created significant public anxiety. This study investigated the canonical relationship between factors of COVID-19 preparedness and anxiety and proposed a conceptual model framework on these factors in the contexts of Thailand. This mixed-methods study employed an explanatory sequential design to conduct a two-phase exploration. Quantitative data were collected in the first phase using online questionnaires. The sample included 2808 respondents selected through a convenience and a snowball sampling. Data collection was conducted from March 29 to May 16, 2020, and content analysis was employed to process these data. The quantitative analysis with canonical relationship between COVID-19 preparedness and anxiety was 0.403 at a moderate level (p-value &lt; 0.01). Thai citizens with high preparedness on risk mitigation and long-term outbreak mitigation planning tended to congruently demonstrate high anxiety towards responses of the government and public sectors, corruption, and misconduct. The conceptual model framework of qualitative analysis on preparedness were classified into three levels, i.e., individuals, families and communities, and social networks. COVID-19 anxiety that was related to a) responses of the government and public sectors, and b) corruption and misconduct, and also showed direct impacts on work and life anxiety. Thai citizens recognized and understood that self-reliance is mostly needed to relieve pandemic-related anxiety. Cooperation with public and private bodies on precautionary measures was deemed essential to prevent a second wave of spread.

Nursing in the time of COVID-19: exploring nurse preparedness early in a global pandemic

Objective: To obtain Australian nurses’ perspectives regarding COVID-19 preparedness early in the pandemic. Background: In March 2020 Australia experienced a rise in COVID-19 cases and was bracing itself for the worst, having witnessed China, Europe and America’s earlier exposure to the outbreak. On 14 March 2020 an Australian nurse set up a Facebook page called “Nursing in the time of COVID-19: A clinical forum” allowing colleagues to share information about COVID-19. This presented an ideal opportunity to survey nurses’ preparedness for the pandemic. Study design and methods: Anonymous web-based survey disseminated between 9 April–4 May 2020 via the Facebook page. Results: A total of 214 nurses responded to the survey of whom 85% were direct care clinical staff and 29 (13.5%) had cared for a COVID-19 patient. Prevalent feelings regarding COVID-19 were anxious, overwhelmed, vulnerable, engaged and interested. The strongest sources of information regarding COVID-19 were published academic articles, WHO/ CDC and similar authorities, employer leaflets/ guidance and Facebook. The strongest needs/ expectations identified by the respondents were education and information, access to mental health counselling, provision of additional health workers to support nurses, and supplemental pay rise. Respondents identified work-related training specific to COVID-19, revision of skills and competencies and upskilling to do tasks previously not familiar to the participant of particular benefit. Nurses who had cared for COVID-19 patients expressed a stronger interest in receiving a supplemental pay rise for risk exposure, a stronger sense that they and their employer were ready to care for COVID-19 patients yet expressed less appreciation for mental health counselling compared to nurses who had not yet cared for COVID-19 patients. Discussion: The perspectives of Australian nurses are generally similar to nurses in other countries. However, we report some variations between nurses who have and have not cared for COVID-19 patients. We identify the levels of concern as well as those supportive actions that are most appreciated by nurses responding to COVID-19 specifically, these same findings could be applied to other major events generally. Conclusion: The timing of this survey allowed us to explore the perspectives of Australian nurses during the early pandemic vulnerability period without the benefit of hindsight. Despite thinking the Australian experience was going to be worse than it was, Australian nurses showed relative confidence in their own and their employers’ readiness and this was most obvious in nurses who had cared for COVID-19 patients. What is already known about the topic? Nurses around the world have voiced anxiety and concern about the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it may have on them personally and professionally. Nurses have access to informal networks, social media, media, employer guidelines and other professional and academic sources of information to stay informed and up-to-date with current information on COVID-19 that may help to allay their concerns. What this paper adds The perspectives of Australian nurses early in the development of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to how prepared they felt at the time and where they were obtaining information to help guide their thinking and their practice. A synopsis of the role and benefits of a social media platform to allow nurses to share thoughts, articles of interest and experiences of COVID-19. Opinions vary based on whether a nurse had already cared for a COVID-19 patient or not.

COVID-19 impact, knowledge and preparedness among dental hygienists in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study.

ObjectivesThe study investigates the impact of COVID‐19 on dental hygiene professionals practising in Saudi Arabia, and measuring the knowledge and preparedness of dental hygienists to provide care during the pandemic.MethodsA non‐experimental, cross‐sectional study was conducted targeting dental hygiene professionals in Saudi Arabia. The online survey consisted of 31 close‐ended questions: 9‐items related to demographics, and 22‐items that are COVID‐19 related. Data were tested at two levels; descriptive and preliminary using Chi‐square test, and significance was set at the 0.05 level.ResultsOne hundred and thirty‐one responses were received and the final sample included one hundred and eighteen responses as it excluded unemployed dental hygienists with estimated 39.6% response rate. The stress level to return to practice was considered moderate among 65.3% of participants. Over two‐thirds (73.7%) of dental hygienists were not providing any kind of care/treatment during quarantine. Generally, a moderate level of knowledge (57.8%) was demonstrated by participants. For preparedness level to practice during the pandemic, sixty‐four dental hygienists (54.2%) were adequately prepared to provide care. Significant correlations were found between impact and knowledge (p = 0.045), impact and preparedness (p = 0.053), and knowledge and preparedness (p = 0.024).ConclusionsDissemination of COVID‐19 protocols, guidelines and scientific literature increased the respondents’ level of knowledge and preparedness to an adequate level. This study indicated that knowledgeable dental hygienists were significantly more prepared to treat patients during the pandemic and that stress positively influenced the COVID‐19 knowledge acquisition. Non‐practising dental hygienists during quarantine were more knowledgeable and more prepared to practice during the pandemic.

COVID-19 Preparedness and the Anxiety of Thai Citizens

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought sickness and fatality to Thai citizens. In addition, it left a tremendous psychological impact on mental health as they experienced panic and anxiety about controlling situations and preserving their physical and mental well-being. This study aimed to analyze the factors influencing COVID-19 preparedness and anxiety based on groups of Thai citizens. Online questionnaires were employed to collect data from 2,768 respondents selected through convenience sampling and snowball sampling on Facebook, having shared questionnaires with 190 other users. Data were collected from March 29 to April 3, 2020. The acquired data were analyzed using percentage and logistic regression analyses. It found that the influencing factors of preparedness included citizens’ sex, residing province, and work or off-house conditions. In contrast, the influencing factors of anxiety included their sex, age, residing province, and income adequacy. The results conveyed that Thai citizens were anxious about the pandemic and had been attempting to cope. In addition, issued policies should respond to the public promptly to prevent unnecessary panic and to maximize public cooperation against future situations put forth by the pandemic.

CommunityFirst solutions for COVID-19: decolonising health crises responses

CommunityFirst solutions for COVID-19: decolonising health crises responses

COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plans from 106 countries: a review from a health systems resilience perspective.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exposed long-standing fragmentation in health systems strengthening efforts for health security and universal health coverage while these objectives are largely interdependent and complementary. In this prevailing background, we reviewed countries’ COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plans (CPRPs) to assess the extent of integration of non-COVID-19 essential health service continuity considerations alongside emergency response activities. We searched for COVID-19 planning documents from governments and ministries of health, World Health Organization (WHO) country offices and United Nations (UN) country teams. We developed document review protocols using global guidance from the WHO and UN and the health systems resilience literature. After screening, we analysed 154 CPRPs from 106 countries. The majority of plans had a high degree of alignment with pillars of emergency response such as surveillance (99%), laboratory systems (96%) and COVID-19-specific case management (97%). Less than half considered maintaining essential health services (47%); 41% designated a mechanism for health system–wide participation in emergency planning; 34% considered subnational service delivery; 95% contained infection prevention and control (IPC) activities and 29% considered quality of care; and 24% were budgeted for and 7% contained monitoring and evaluation of essential health services. To improve, ongoing and future emergency planning should proactively include proportionate activities, resources and monitoring for essential health services to reduce excess mortality and morbidity. Specifically, this entails strengthening subnational health services with local stakeholder engagement in planning; ensuring a dedicated focus in emergency operations structures to maintain health systems resilience for non-emergency health services; considering all domains of quality in health services along with IPC; and building resilient monitoring capacity for timely and reliable tracking of health systems functionality including service utilization and health outcomes. An integrated approach to planning should be pursued as health systems recover from COVID-19 disruptions and take actions to build back better.