Prolonged COVID-19 Research Articles

THE ROLE OF HUMAN CAPITAL ON REMOTE AUDIT THROUGH A QUALITY AUDIT APPROACH

The condition of the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic entering its third year, requiring the fulfillment of health protocols and social distancing policies, including the work from home policy, is very influential in the implementation of audits, which should be the largest portion in field activities. Management and supervision as a function of controlling the rotation of the business wheel, is a link in terms of the responsibility for governance of business management to prepare and present financial statements and other relevant disclosures based on the best judgment and analysis of the latest facts and events after the reporting date that can predictable. Reliable human resources in driving the pace of change and change from various sides as part of the company's adaptive response to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic conditions in the supervision department and audit system in business organizations are very key in maintaining audit quality and obtaining audit evidence. sufficient and appropriate to support the audit opinion through procedures for gathering audit evidence, revising the process for identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement, and changing planned audit procedures or performing alternative or follow-up audit procedures as appropriate. The role of reliable human resources is part of the company's wealth ( human capital ) in collaborating with information technology and investing in technology as a solution to facilitate communication between the auditor department and business management using remote audit potential or known as remote audit while maintaining audit quality and optimizing the supervision and control of the business wheel. The implementation of remote auditing requires auditors to improve the ability to use technology, it is necessary to have human resource competencies that can always be improved through adequate training and education, so that increasing competencies will improve audit quality, in line with increasingly qualified human capital will affect the process. audit and is directly proportional to improving audit quality. Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, remote audit , human capital , information technology

INITIATION OF BALANCED ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS of SMEs PERSPECTIVE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT APPROACH QUADRUPLE HELIX INNOVATION MODEL (QHIM)

The prolonged covid-19 pandemic entering its third year has created turbulence, which has resulted in various conditions that must be faced for Indonesian SMEs and in general the country's economy has also undergone terrible changes, then how can SMEs survive the current prolonged crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic? This study aims to provide an understanding of how the customized configuration of various strategic initiatives can help Indonesian SMEs survive through the mass crisis based on the QHIM (Quadruple Helix Innovation Model) mechanism . Using a qualitative approach based on group discussions with the support of expert facilitators and involving parties from various fields, such as academia, banking, the entrepreneurial community and SMEs. SMEs operate in uncertain conditions, and some findings show that there has been an integration of various initiatives, such as financial resource management, opportunity exploration-exploitation, efficient negotiation, digital adoption and strategic management through balancing play an important role in terms of survival in crisis and how the Quadruple Helix perspective can become an important concept in the survival process of Indonesian SMEs.

Impacts of COVID-19 on the Middle East Construction Industry

ABSTRACT: The impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on construction project management are not documented and not well understood, which leaves project stakeholders with no guiding information to respond to such threats and no lessons learned to speed up the recovery of the industry in the wake of the pandemic. Although researchers have studied the impacts of pandemics in other industries in various settings, there is little-to-no research specific to the construction industry and especially in the Middle East region. To address this knowledge gap, 202 construction professionals in the Middle East region were surveyed using a questionnaire survey to provide their perceptions of COVID-19 pandemic impact on project finance, construction materials and equipment, labor, contracts, and rental properties. Statistical analysis of the collected data reveals that labor and contracts are the principal classes impacted due to the complex procedures of hiring labor from East Asia, the tightening of health and safety precautionary measures on construction sites, and the expected contract revisions to Force Majeure, Change and Claim clauses to address pandemic issues. The respondents indicated that many tasks can be safely accomplished by remote work. They also indicated that pandemic-related slowdowns can be detrimental to the construction industry; governments need to inject stimulus funding to help keep construction activity momentum; and that prolonged COVID-19 pandemic impact would be harsher than oil price collapse. As such, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in construction management by studying the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and providing construction industry stakeholders with lessons learned and recommendations to response strategies that can alleviate pandemic risks.

Attachment Style and Childhood Traumatic Experiences Moderate the Impact of Initial and Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic: Mental Health Longitudinal Trajectories in a Sample of Italian Women

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health has not been clarified yet, with multiple studies warranting a special focus on women and young adults. A sample of 101 Italian women recruited from the general population was evaluated a few weeks before the onset of the pandemic and during the first and the second wave of the pandemic. Depression values at the Brief Symptom Inventory showed an initial increase followed by a stabilization on higher values in respect to the baseline, whereas Phobic Anxiety was stably worsened. Participants with insecure attachment styles and childhood trauma showed higher levels of distress at all timepoints. In many psychopathological domains, moderation analysis showed an unfavorable trend over time for younger participants. The present study seems to confirm a high burden on mental health for women during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting young age, insecure attachment style, and childhood trauma as negative prognostic factors.

Quality of life of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a 1-year follow-up study

This study aimed to reveal changes in the quality of life (QOL) of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents, and the interaction between their QOL and parental mental state during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Eighty-nine school-aged children and parents participated in surveys in May 2020 (T1) and May 2021 (T2). The parents completed questionnaires that assessed their QOL, depression, parenting stress, and living conditions. Children’s temporary mood status was evaluated using the self-reported visual analog scale (VAS). Children’s QOL and VAS at T2 were higher than their QOL at T1. Parents’ QOL at T2 was lower than their QOL at T1. Severe parental depression at T1 had a synergistic effect on severe parenting stress and severe depressive state at T2. Additionally, children’s high QOL at T1 had a synergistic effect on low parenting stress and children’s high QOL at T2. Furthermore, children’s low VAS scores and parents’ low QOL at T2 were associated with deterioration of family economic status. Children and parents’ QOL changed during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Improvement in children’s QOL was influenced by reduced maternal depressive symptoms. Public support for parental mental health is important to avoid decreasing QOL.

Affective touch perception and longing for touch during the COVID-19 pandemic

Interpersonal touch and affective touch play a crucial role in social interactions and have a positive influence on mental health. The social distancing regulations implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic have reduced the ability to engage in interpersonal touch. This could cause longing for touch, and it might subsequently alter the way in which affective touch is perceived. To investigate this, we conducted an online survey and included 1982 participants, which contained questions regarding the COVID-19 regulations, longing for touch, and the perceived pleasantness of affective and non-affective touch. Results showed that participants reported feelings of longing for touch. This significantly increased with the duration and severity of the COVID-19 regulations. In addition, participants who experienced more longing for touch rated videos of affective and non-affective touch as more pleasant. Current results provide insight in the impact of sudden and prolonged COVID-19 regulations and show that increasing the duration and severity of these regulations is associated with a higher desire for touch, which is associated with increased perceived pleasantness of observing touch.

The Effect of the Imacoco Care Psychoeducation Website on Improving Psychological Distress Among Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundThe prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has affected mental health among workers. Psychoeducational intervention via a website could be effective for primary prevention of mental illness among workers in the current COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveThe aim of this randomized controlled trial is to examine the effect of a newly developed online psychoeducational website named Imacoco Care on reducing psychological distress and fear about COVID-19 infection among workers.MethodsParticipants in the study were recruited from registered members of a web survey company in Japan. Participants who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. Participants in the intervention group were invited to access the Imacoco Care program within a month after the baseline survey. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) scores were obtained at baseline and at 1- and 3-month follow-ups.ResultsA total of 1200 workers were randomly allocated to the intervention and control groups (n=600 [50%] per group). The Imacoco Care intervention group showed a significant favorable effect on K6 scores (P=.03) with a small effect size (ES; Cohen d=–0.14) and an adverse effect on FCV-19S scores (P=.01) with a small ES (Cohen d=0.16) at 3-month follow-up. In the per protocol analysis (including only participants who had read the Imacoco Care content at least 1 time), the Imacoco Care intervention group also showed a significant favorable effect on reducing K6 scores (P=.03), while an adverse effect on FCV-19S scores was not significant (P=.06) in the intervention group at 3-month follow-up.ConclusionsA web-based psychoeducation approach may be effective for improving psychological distress among workers; however, it may be important not only to distribute information but also to encourage active engagement with the content of the program to prevent adverse effects of psychoeducational intervention.Trial RegistrationUniversity Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) UMIN000042556; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000048548

Experience of living with COVID-19: personal preparedness and coping mechanism among deployed healthcare workers.

This study aimed to explore how deployed healthcare workers (HCWs) perceived personal preparedness for response and their main avenues for coping to maintain resilience during the prolonged COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 HCWs deployed to the frontline for an extended period to provide acute COVID-19 related care. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically. HCWs demonstrated heightened self-confidence and readiness to deal with public health emergencies owing to the ramped-up efforts in infrastructure for outbreak management and pre-emptive infectious disease training. Despite overall confidence, deployed HCWs had to adopt various coping mechanisms to sustain resilience during the prolonged pandemic. Main themes on coping centred around the value of team leaders and support from family members as an effective buffer for work-induced stress while institution-based counseling services and welfare were viewed as important for fostering internal locus of control and wellbeing. Our findings suggest that strategies such as on-the-job training, continuous education and improved communication would be essential to maintain resilience of deployed HCWs. Considerations should be also given to the swift implementation of blended wellness support comprising digital and in-person counseling to sustain wellbeing and prepare for endemic COVID-19.

Six Minute Walk Test Changes during Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Rehabilitation for Patients Post COVID-19

Research ObjectivesTo explore Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT) improvements in patients admitted to long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) for severe and prolonged SARS-Cov-2 illness (COVID-19).DesignNational retrospective longitudinal cohort.SettingFive LTACHs in USA.Participants184 (77.3% of 238 total) participants post-COVID-19 [mean age 64.5 (13.1) years] for whom 6MWT scores were available at admission and discharge.InterventionsParticipants received standard inpatient LTACH care. 6MWT distance measured using established procedures.Main Outcome Measures6MWT distance change. We defined improvement as 54m, which is the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) identified for individuals with pulmonary diseases .ResultsPrior to LTACH transfer, participants’ average hospitalization length of stay was 30.9 days (SD=20.1), with 85% staying in an ICU for ≥3 days, 58% diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome, 65% receiving mechanical ventilation, and 30% having tracheostomies. During LTACH stay, average 6MWT distance increased from admission [median 0m (IQR 0-0)] to discharge [median 13.4m (IQR, 0-82)], with 32% of participants exceeding the MCID. The discharge average 6MWT distance for those who improved was 180.9m (SD=112.5; range=61-592) versus 10.1m (SD=17.8; range=0-95.7) for those without improvement. Patients who improved were younger (60.8 vs. 66.3 years; p=0.01), ventilated for less time (18.7 vs 26.9 days; p=0.004) and were less likely to have a tracheostomy (15.5% vs 37.9%; p=0.002).ConclusionsAmong a national cohort of patients with the most severe and prolonged COVID-19 illness, nearly one-third had improved 6MWT distance exceeding established MCID thresholds. Short distances traversed by those not exceeding the MCID confirm persisting mobility dysfunction expected to hinder community participation. Even for those exceeding the MCID threshold, many did not achieve the 6MWT distance threshold of 205m previously identified as discriminating between home and community ambulators. Collectively, findings highlight the need for further research to identify strategies (medical, therapeutic) to enhance walking during rehabilitation and post discharge for patients cared for in LTACH settings following hospitalization for COVID-19.Author(s) DisclosuresResearch supported by grants from NALTH and the National Institute on Aging (PI: Makam).

EFFECT OF THE PROLONGED LOCKDOWN ON SCHOOLWORK PARTICIPATION IN THE POST COVID-19 ERA

The extended academic disruption occasioned by the deadly coronavirus epidemic undoubtedly created a lacuna in the global education landscape. Indeed, the situation propelled many students to unacademically-related activities for a more extended period. Thus, a growing insinuation seems to suggest that many students are struggling with academic activities in the post-Covid-19 classroom. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to explore the correlation between the prolonged Covid-19 lockdown and schoolwork participation. One hundred and ninety-five secondary school students were randomly drawn from public and private secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria. The participant completed a self-report measure of the Schoolwork Engagement Inventory (Salmela-Aro &Upadaya, 2012). The result showed that prolonged Covid-19 lockdown positively correlated with schoolwork participation. Thus, it is concluded that the lengthy lockdown is a significant predictor of schoolwork participation. The research implications and conclusion are discussed.

Reducing airborne infection risk of COVID-19 by locating air cleaners at proper positions indoor: Analysis with a simple model

Portable air cleaners (PACs) can remove airborne SARS-CoV-2 exhaled by COVID-19 infectors indoor. However, effectively locating PAC to reduce the infection risk is still poorly understood. Here, we propose a simple model by regressing an equation of seven similarity criteria based on CFD-modeled results of a scenario matrix of 128 cases for office rooms. The model can calculate the mean droplet nucleus concentration with very low computing costs. Combining this model with the Wells–Riley equation, we estimate the airborne infection risk when a PAC is located in different positions. The two similarity criteria, Bp+ and Gp+, are critical for characterizing the effect of the position and airflow rate of PAC on the infection risk. An infection probability of less than 10% requires Bp + to be larger than 144 and Gp + to be larger than 0.001. These criteria imply that locating PAC in the center of the room is optimal under the premise that the airflow rate of PAC is greater than a certain level. The model provides an easy-to-use approach for real-time risk control strategy decisions. Furthermore, the placement strategies offer timely guidelines for precautions against the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and common infectious respiratory diseases.

Impact of face masks and sunglasses on emotion recognition in South Koreans.

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become essential for social interaction, disturbing emotion recognition in daily life. In the present study, a total of 39 Korean participants (female = 20, mean age = 24.2 years) inferred seven emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust, anger, surprise, and neutral) from uncovered, mask-covered, sunglasses-covered faces. The recognition rates were the lowest under mask conditions, followed by the sunglasses and uncovered conditions. In identifying emotions, different emotion types were associated with different areas of the face. Specifically, the mouth was the most critical area for happiness, surprise, sadness, disgust, and anger recognition, but fear was most recognized from the eyes. By simultaneously comparing faces with different parts covered, we were able to more accurately examine the impact of different facial areas on emotion recognition. We discuss the potential cultural differences and the ways in which individuals can cope with communication in which facial expressions are paramount.

The role of self-regulation and perceived self-efficacy in adaptation to home-office work during the pandemic

Abstract As a consequence of the unprecedented labor market circumstances that the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic brought about, organizations have faced challenges never seen before. One such challenge was the sudden ubiquity of working from home, which resulted in an intensive learning experience for employees and employers alike. While there is an increasing body of research on working from home in general, the perceived effectiveness of this mode of working is still under-researched. This niche provided the inspiration for us to investigate what factors might influence employees' self-efficacy in working from home arrangements. We conducted a mixed-methods case study by collecting both qualitative and quantitative data from 24 employees of a division of the Hungarian subsidiary of a chemical and consumer goods multinational. The purpose of our investigation was to gain a deeper understanding of perceived self-efficacy and self-regulation during the learning processes that the participants experienced under the new circumstances. Results suggest that the perceived high level of work-efficiency among the employees of the examined division was based on the firmly controlled work-division, trusting managers, as well as supportive and clear communication, which created space for autonomy in the adaptation process. The findings also revealed that self-reflection acted as a predictor of perceived work self-efficacy.

Unfolding the Impacts of a Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic on the Sustainability of Culinary Tourism: Some Insights from Micro and Small Street Food Vendors

Our study reveals the impacts of various COVID-19-related restrictions on the culinary tourism industry by exploring how street food vendors deal with this unprecedented encounter. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 20 street food vendors and later analyzed using qualitative data analysis, focusing on the thematic analysis of coded interview transcripts, as a basis for generalization of our findings. This study unfolds the knock-on effects of the lock-down, social distancing, and movement restrictions imposed on the street food vendors and sheds light on how the culinary tourism industry can become more resilient and sustainable in facing a future or recurring pandemic. Understanding the dynamic impacts of the pandemic will offer insights for the culinary tourism industry and the government in the development of relevant policies to alleviate those impacts and protect the culinary tourism industry in the ‘new normal’ post-pandemic era.

Impaired Humoral Immunity Is Associated With Prolonged COVID-19 Despite Robust CD8 T-Cell Responses

Impaired Humoral Immunity Is Associated With Prolonged COVID-19 Despite Robust CD8 T-Cell Responses

Early vertigo in a patient with oligosymptomatic and prolonged COVID-19: a case report

Early vertigo in a patient with oligosymptomatic and prolonged COVID-19: a case report

Prediction of Length of Stay in the Emergency Department for COVID-19 Patients: A Machine Learning Approach

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has become a global public health threat. The influx of COVID-19 patients has prolonged the length of stay (LOS) in the emergency department (ED) in the United States. Our objective is to develop a reliable prediction model for COVID-19 patient ED LOS and identify clinical factors, such as age and comorbidities, associated with LOS within a “4-hour target.” Data were collected from an urban, demographically diverse hospital in Detroit for all COVID-19 patients’ ED presentations from March 16 to December 29, 2020. We trained four machine learning models, namely logistic regression (LR), gradient boosting (GB), decision tree (DT), and random forest (RF), across different data processing stages to predict COVID-19 patients with an ED LOS of less than or greater than 4 hours. The analysis is inclusive of 3,301 COVID-19 patients with known ED LOS, and 16 significant clinical factors were incorporated. The GB model outperformed the baseline classifier (LR) and tree-based classifiers (DT and RF) with an accuracy of 85% and F1-score of 0.88 for predicting ED LOS in the testing data. No significant accuracy gains were achieved through further splitting. This study identified key independent factors from a combination of patient demographics, comorbidities, and ED operational data that predicted ED stay in patients with prolonged COVID-19. The prediction framework can serve as a decision-support tool to improve ED and hospital resource planning and inform patients about better ED LOS estimations.

Risk Factors Associated with Prolonged Nasopharyngeal Carriage of SARS-CoV-2 and Length of Stay among Patients Admitted to a COVID-19 Referral Center in Manila, Philippines.

Prolonged nasopharyngeal carriage of SARS-CoV-2 has been linked to prolonged hospital stay and delayed radiologic recovery. To determine if clinical risk factors are associated with prolonged nasopharyngeal carriage or longer hospital stay, we performed a descriptive analysis of 169 moderate to severe COVID-19 patients admitted at the Philippine General Hospital from March to June 2020. Length of nasopharyngeal RT-PCR positivity and clinical demographic data were extracted from existing patient records. Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, and regression analysis were performed to describe the association of clinical risk factors with prolonged nasopharyngeal carriage and length of hospital stay. The median duration of carriage was 19 days (IQR 12.0-30.0 days). No comorbidities or inflammatory markers had a statistically significant association with prolonged nasopharyngeal carriage defined as >24 days of nasopharyngeal RT-PCR positivity. Characteristics associated with a statistically significant longer hospital stay included chronic kidney disease stages 3-5, severe disease, and use of empiric antibiotics on admission. Prolonged carriage >24 days, hsCRP, and D-dimer at admission, also had a statistically significant but weak correlation with length of stay. Among patients with moderate disease, comorbidities and inflammatory markers were not associated with prolonged COVID-19 nasopharyngeal carriage. Prolonged nasopharyngeal carriage >24 days was associated with longer hospital stay, while D-dimer and hsCRP levels at admission, also had statistically significant but small effects on increasing the hospital length of stay.

Health Perceptions of Korean and Japanese Adolescents During the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic: An Importance Performance Analysis

Background: This study compares and analyzes the importance and performance of Korean and Japanese adolescents’ health awareness in the long COVID-19 pandemic situation. Methods: A frequency analysis was conducted on data collected from 1341 Korean and Japanese adolescents in September 2021 through online and offline surveys to confirm their characteristics (reliability was verified through Cronbach’s α). A paired sample test was conducted to analyze health awareness differences and performance of each variable between Korean and Japanese middle-school students and between male and female participants, substantiated by importance-performance analysis (IPA). Results: First, Korean adolescents perceived importance for all factors of health perception greater as compared to their Japanese counterparts. Second, performance differences between Korean and Japanese adolescents were especially significant in hygiene management, disease management and physical activity. Third, in Quadrant 4 of the IPA matrix, there were similarities and differences in a particular factor of health perception between Korean and Japanese adolescents. On this basis, we proposed measures emphasizing the importance of health, to enhance Korean and Japanese adolescents’ performance. Conclusions: It is important for national government, public education institutions, and families to couple a therapeutic approach with a preventive and management approach that encourages periodic exercise, desirable diet, and adequate sleep when exploring measures to maintain and promote adolescents’ health.

Abuse of Power by Government Applications on Government Policies During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

In a democratic country, government power is obtained from the consent of the people, that the people are sovereign and give legitimacy to the power they want. The principle of popular sovereignty states that no individual, group of people or an elite has the right to determine and impose (demand with threats) how others should obey. Indonesia, which is led by a president and assisted by ministers, must be able to use the power and authority it has properly and responsibly. In government policies, there are moral rights and obligations of individuals aimed at the welfare of the wider community. Apparatus who have good morals will produce and implement policies with an orientation to the public interest. However, there are still government officials, including the Minister of the Second Advanced Indonesian Cabinet, who are considered to have abused their power with corruption that is not in accordance with legal, social, religious and humanitarian norms, even during the limited period due to the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic. That power can influence the actions of a government official towards policies that should be carried out properly, as well as the level of awareness of the individual if the power he has belongs to the people, not private property for the benefit of individuals or an elite group, so that public trust in the government can be well maintained.