Quarantine Practices Research Articles

Risk factors, immune response and whole‐genome sequencing of SARS‐CoV‐2 in a cruise ship outbreak in Norway

ObjectiveTo improve understanding of SARS-CoV-2-transmission and prevention measures on cruise ships, we investigated a Norwegian cruise ship outbreak from July to August 2020 using a multidisciplinary approach after a rapid outbreak response launched by local and national health authorities. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study among crew members using epidemiologic data and results from SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of nasopharynx-oropharynx samples, antibody analyses of blood samples, and whole-genome sequencing. ResultsWe included 114 multinational crew members (71% participation), median age 36 years, and 69% male. The attack rate was 33%; 32 of 37 outbreak cases were seropositive 5-10 days after PCR. One PCR-negative participant was seropositive, suggesting a previous infection. Network-analysis showed clusters based on common exposures, including embarkation date, nationality, sharing a cabin with an infected cabin-mate (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 3.27; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.97-11.07, p = 0.057), and specific workplaces (mechanical operations: 9.17 [1.82-45.78], catering: 6.11 [1.83-20.38]). Breaches in testing, quarantine, and isolation practices before/during expeditions were reported. Whole-genome sequencing revealed lineage B.1.36, previously identified in Asia. Despite extensive sequencing, the continued transmission of B.1.36 in Norway was not detected. ConclusionsOur findings confirm the high risk of SARS-CoV-2-transmission on cruise ships related to workplace and cabin type and show that continued community transmission after the outbreak could be stopped by implementing immediate infection control measures at the final destination.

Understanding how fast SARS-CoV-2 variants transmit from household studies

Understanding how fast SARS-CoV-2 variants transmit from household studies

Regulations against the Covid-19 pandemic in spanish prisons

The pandemic caused by SARS-COVID-2 has supposed an extraordinary challenge for prisons. There is an unavoidable need to take action to stop the entry and spread of the virus, however, the measures must respect prisoners' rights and must not constitute any kind of inhuman or degrading treatment. Spanish prison authorities have published and extensive normative that has transformed life in prisons during the pandemic. We have reviewed the content of these norms, which's main treads are: no discrimination and the guarantee of an equivalent treatment than that to the regular population; coordination of medical authorities; interruption or diminution of the spread of the virus from or towards prisons; the strengthening of alternatives to closed regime sentences; mobility restriction methods inside prisons, and measures to minimise the risks employees are exposed to. In general, the measures have respected prisoners' rights. However, indefinite quarantine practices have likely violated them, being that there were other alternative measures. Ultimately, the extensive vaccination of prisoners has public health implications, constitutes an ethical imperative towards this group of vulnerable people and should be implemented promptly.

Quarantine of Travellers during the Initial Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic- Experience from a Rural Setting in Kerala, India

Introduction: Quarantine of travellers was one of the major public health strategies enforced by the state to curb the transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the initial phases. Proper quarantine requires commitment from the person, support, and monitoring from the public health system. Aim: To understand the process, practices, perceptions, and difficulties of quarantined persons during the initial phase of the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) in a panchayat in Alappuzha, Kerala, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to September 2020 using a semi-structured questionnaire through telephonic interview among quarantined individuals in a panchayat in Alappuzha, Kerala. Quarantine practices, the process of quarantine, perceptions, and difficulties faced were explored to understand their viewpoint. The perceptions of the healthcare providers were also enquired qualitatively. The data collected was entered in Microsoft Excel and statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, USA). Results: Out of the 182 quarantined individuals, 152 were in home quarantine of which 89 (58.6%) observed strict room quarantine and 132 (72.5%) had a quarantine period of more than 14 days which was the guideline then. Majority were contacted by the health staff during the period; however, 28% were not satisfied with the information that was conveyed to them. Majority adhered to infection control guidelines during quarantine. Almost half (46.7%) of them reported emotional problems during quarantine of which the major issues were loneliness and lack of social contact. Almost one-third of them had experienced stigma and rejection from people in the neighbourhood. Conclusion: Quarantine to be used effectively as a public health measure requires that the concerns and problems should also be taken care of. Adequate information regarding the need and process of quarantine should be provided and there should be a system to cater to the emotional concerns of the persons. Awareness regarding the purpose and role of quarantine among the general public will enable quarantine to be used as a powerful tool for disease control in the future.

Strategies of University Students to Cope with COVID-19 and the Role of Psychological Flexibility

The COVID-19 outbreak is an important stress factor that threatens the health of individuals both physically and psychologically. Within the scope of struggling the outbreak, many precautions, such as quarantine practices, social distance rules, distance education, flexible working hours have been taken and the lives of individuals have changed greatly. One of the groups that have been significantly influenced by this process is university students. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the ways in which university students cope with the outbreak and to understand the role of psychological flexibility. There were 457 university students in the study. Participants completed an online questionnaire form comprising items relevant to their coping strategies and psychological flexibility levels. Results revealed that participants used transcendental coping the most while relational coping the least. Additionally, psychological inflexibility negatively predicted transcendental, behavioral, and relational coping behaviors. These results revealed the fact that psychological flexibility is an important mechanism that channels students’ coping behaviors in such a critical process.

Anxiety and harmful oral habits in preschool children during the 2020 first-wave COVID‑19 lockdown in Turkey.

Due to curfew and quarantine practices designed to reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19), social isolation has tested the psychological limits of children. The authors evaluated parent-observed symptoms of anxiety in preschool children with harmful oral habits during the curfew period in Turkey. The authors prepared a questionnaire with Google Forms that was distributed through social media applications (e.g., WhatsApp) to 405 parents recruited via snowball sampling. To measure children's symptoms and levels of anxiety, the Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale (SPAS) was used. Harmful oral habits that might develop in children during the curfew were investigated. Separation anxiety and physical injury anxiety were reported by the parents more frequently than general anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Also, the presence of tantrums (p = 0.010), crying attacks (p = 0.010) and aggression (p = 0.010) were reported by the parents in these children. It was observed that the habits of finger sucking (p = 0.010), nail biting (p = 0.040) and lip biting (p = 0.010) that were present before the curfew decreased significantly after the curfew. Children aged 3-7 years can develop anxiety about physical injuries and about being separated from their parents as well as tantrums and crying attacks. Their harmful oral habits (i.e., finger sucking, nail biting and lip biting) all decreased during the curfew period.

Prolonged Viral Shedding in Vertically Acquired SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Preterm Infants–Shedding Versus Infectivity

The reported median duration of viral shedding after infection with SARS-CoV2 is between 12 and 20 days. It is now established that infected individuals can continue to shed viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) without shedding live virus. This has implications for quarantine and infection control practices. COVID in the acute phase seems to be milder in children, and the duration of viral RNA shedding is shorter in children compared to adults. SARS-CoV-2 infections in the newborn period is rare. Little is known about the duration of viral shedding in preterm infants with vertically acquired SARS-CoV-2. 3 of the 4 preterm infants cared for at our center had prolonged shedding up to 34 days with live viral shedding not seen beyond the second week when tested in 3 of them.

“Locked Out of Caregiving”: A Case Study of Dementia Caregiving During the Covid-19 Pandemic

An estimated 69.5 million Americans are reported to be grandparents. Among them, about 10% are raising grandchildren and the number of grandparents who are raising grandchildren (GRG) is increasing. Previous research on GRG suggests that the unexpected caregiving duties may lead to negative physical and mental health including more depressive symptoms when compared to non-caregiving grandparents (NGRG). Additionally, grandparent-grandchild relationships determined by emotional availability (EA) of the grandparent may be impacted. These factors might further be complicated, especially as it relates to the health and well-being of GRG, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the overarching goal of this presentation is to use the biopsychosocial model to present a conceptual framework to test the mental well-being of GRG during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this presentation, we will 1) summarize appropriate literature on GRG; 2) share a COVID-19 health and well-being assessment survey designated for GRG in order to assess their health before and since the COVID pandemic; and 3) propose a conceptual model to investigate and test the protective role of physical activity and GRG’s EA in the grandparent-grandchild relationship for the mental health of GRG. In our model, we argue that GRG experience more COVID-19 pandemic-related stress and more depressive symptoms when compared to NGRG. This proposed conceptual model offers one way to test the predictors of depressive symptoms on GRG. Future testing has the potential to shed new light on the development of appropriate intervention programs tailored to maintain the mental health of GRG.

"Locked Out of Caregiving": A Case Study of Dementia Caregiving During the Covid-19 Pandemic

It is unclear how ambiguous loss in dementia caregiving is impacted by conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ambiguous loss describes situations in which closure is impossible and ambiguities within a family system ensue. Two situations of ambiguous loss exist. In the first type, one is psychologically absent, yet physically present, e.g. when one has dementia. In the second type, one is physically absent but psychologically present, e.g. moving to a nursing home. Ambiguous loss theory was applied to longitudinal interviews with an adult-child caregiver (age=52) of a mother with dementia, who resided in memory care during the Covid-19 pandemic. Theoretical analysis revealed both types of ambiguous loss were experienced in the dementia caregiving relationship. This was embedded within ambiguous loss type 2 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, e.g. social distancing and quarantine practices led to physical estrangement from others and ambiguity ensued about when, or if, estrangement would end before resulting in death. Further, the coping mechanisms defined in the ambiguous loss framework: restructuring identity, finding meaning, gaining mastery, increasing ambivalence capacity, reframing attachments, and gaining hope, were compromised due to overarching ambiguous loss attributed to the pandemic. Continued panic and frustration regarding lack of communication with and access to the memory care center instilled a sense of being “locked out of caregiving.” Findings suggest dementia caregivers may experience both types of ambiguous loss compounded during the Covid-19 pandemic, suspending grief and coping processes, and inciting poorly understood needs and challenges that must be better understood to support dementia caregivers.

Days of our ‘quarantined’ lives

Abstract During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, many users around the world exploited internet memes as a digital source of humour to cope with the negative psychological effects of quarantining. Drawing on multimodal discourse analysis, this study investigates a set of COVID-19 internet memes to explore the quarantine activities and routines to understand ordinary people’s mindsets, anxieties and emotional narratives surrounding self-isolation as well as the pragmatically generated humorous meanings relying on verbal and visual components of memes. The findings revealed that quarantine humour is centred around themes including quarantine day comparisons focusing on the perceived effects of home quarantines on physical and mental well-being, quarantine routines, and physical appearance predictions at the end of quarantine. Intertextuality was a productive resource establishing connections between quarantine practices and popular texts. In addition, humorous meanings were created through anomalous juxtapositions of different texts and incongruity resolution is largely dependent on the combined meanings of verbal and visual components.

COVID-19 in corrections: Quarantine of incarcerated people.

Carceral settings in the United States have been the source of many single site COVID-19 outbreaks. Quarantine is a strategy used to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in correctional settings, and specific quarantine practices differ state to state. To better understand how states are using quarantine in prisons, we reviewed each state’s definition of quarantine and compared each state’s definition to the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) definition and recommendations for quarantine in jails and prisons. Most prison systems, 45 of 53, define quarantine, but definitions vary widely. No state published definitions of quarantine that align with all CDC recommendations, and only 9 states provide quarantine data. In these states, the highest recorded quarantine rate occurred in Ohio in May 2020 at 843 per 1,000. It is necessary for prison systems to standardize their definitions of quarantine and to utilize quarantine practices in accordance with CDC recommendations. In addition, data transparency is needed to better understand the use of quarantine and its effectiveness at mitigating COVID-19 outbreaks in carceral settings.

Descriptive analysis of nematode management practices and Nematodirus battus control strategies on UK sheep farms.

Farm management practices have a major impact on nematode population dynamics. The presented study aimed to understand current nematode management practices on UK sheep farms; with a particular focus on Nematodirus battus because of the changing epidemiology, and emerging anthelmintic resistance observed in this species. A 42 question online survey covering grazing management, farm demographics and parasite control strategies was developed and distributed to the farming community in 2016. Analysis of the 187 completed questionnaires explored regional variations in practices. Uptake of recommendations was variable, particularly quarantine practices and monitoring tools. Results also highlighted variation in the epidemiology of N. battus; respondents in the north (Scotland, north-west and north-east England) typically reported N. battus in spring with a perception of more severe clinical symptoms than those from the south (Midlands, Wales, south-east and south-west England; p=0.03). Farms in the south observed greater changes in the timing of disease (p=0.006) with N. battus being reported throughout the year on some holdings and more frequent use of faecal egg count monitoring (p=0.006). Control of N. battus infection is challenging and 'one-size-fits-all' advice is not applicable; however, the information gathered will enable the development of effective, adaptable control strategies.

Pandemic Telehealth Utilization and Radiology as a Career Choice

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a dramatic increase in reliance on telehealth in medicine. Guidelines around social distancing, as well as quarantine and isolation practices, have nudged many patients and physicians to forego face-to-face interaction and begin relying on virtual visits. As other medical fields shift to a telehealth model of patient care, increasingly resembling the computer-based model of diagnostic radiology, fewer medical students are likely to eschew radiology careers based on a perceived lack of patient contact.

Perceived quarantine competence, attitudes and practices among the public during the coronavirus pandemic: A Saudi descriptive study.

The unavailability of data on the long-term efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and of effective specific treatment, in addition to the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, makes nonpharmaceutical measures a mainstay for preventing the spread of infection. The policy responses of governments to the pandemic should be integrated with public behavioral changes. This study examines public attitudes, practices and perceived quarantine competency in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional descriptive design using an online survey was employed. Convenience and snowball sampling were adopted, and 1022 valid responses were received. Most respondents demonstrated satisfactory practices, including wearing face masks (76.5%), keeping a safe distance (97.8%) and appropriate hand hygiene (99.2%). Fear of stigma (8.9%) and of financial consequences (0%) were minimal drivers of underreporting of symptoms among the respondents, whereas uncertainty of the relevance of symptoms (30.3%) was a main cause of not reporting to health authorities. Most participants (73.4%) abided by government instructions due to fear of infection rather than of legal penalties. Participants, especially females and Saudi citizens, reported a high level of perceived quarantine competence (12.9±2.59). Spearman's rho correlation showed a significant positive association between wearing face masks and other precautionary practices, including keeping a safe distance (0.25, P<.01) and frequent handwashing (0.224, P<.01), which rules out the concern that wearing face masks would result in less adherence of the participants to other protective measures. Our findings suggest that COVID-19 awareness programs should focus more on males and non-Saudi populations. We also recommend the development of screening protocols and education programs for asthmatic patients in Saudi Arabia to avoid the consequences of confusing COVID-19 symptoms with those of asthma.

WEKA Ortamını Kullanarak Derin Öğrenme ile Kimlik Hırsızı Web Sitelerinin Tahmini

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) disease, observed in the city of Wuhan, China, on December 30, 2019, spread worldwide and caused a global epidemic. Since this epidemic can be transmitted very quickly and easily, some precautions and voluntary quarantine practices that governments have to take have significantly changed the habits of world communities in a short time. This change has especially increased distance activities, such as distance working, distance education, and distance shopping (e-commerce). Therefore, people have felt the need to quickly move the physical platforms they use to digital platforms to meet their daily needs. In this case, web phishing targeting digital platforms has led to a significant increase in online cyber attack types. The increase in phishing and the increasing volume of phishing websites have resulted in greater exposure of the world's information and organizations to various cyberattacks. Thus, after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, it has become more important than ever to detect phishing website analysis. In this study, performs the web phishing analysis and makes a comparison of classification performances among five popular methods: Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multilayer Perception (MLP), k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN), and Deep Learning (DL) by utilizing a Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) graphical user interface (GUI). In the experiments conducted with the data set divided into two as training and test, the RF and DL methods were more successful than the other methods compared, but k-NN, achieved a better performance when cross-validation was used. The possible reason for this is a simple approach toward deep learning. We hope the current study can provide guidance in investigating WEKA deep learning for web phishing classification.

Covid-19 Pandemisi, Yeni Dışlanma Zeminleri ve Sorumluluk Alanları: Türkiye’de Virüsün Yayılışını Engelleme Politikaları ve Toplumsal Bağlam

Bu çalışmanın amacı Covid-19 pandemisi bağlamında Türkiye’de uygulanan politikaların ve alınan kararların ortaya çıkardığı sonuçları sosyolojik bir zeminde analiz etmektir. Kuşkusuz virüsün Türkiye’de yayılım hızını azaltmak için alınan kararlar ve uygulanan politikalar toplumun tüm alanlarını ve katmanlarını içine almaktadır. Özellikle eğitim öğretime ara verilmesi, Covid-19 teşhisi konulan kişilerin sağlık güvencelerine bakılmaksızın tedavisi, ulaşımın kısıtlanması, maske dağıtım ve üretimi ile yaşa bağlı kategorik evde kalma uygulamalarının toplumsal yansımaları Türkiye’nin yeni bir deneyimine işaret etmesi açısından önemlidir. Diğer taraftan, sağlık çalışanlarına sunulan hizmetlere karşılık gündelik hayatlarında, 65 yaş üstü kişiler ile benzer şekilde yaşadıkları stres ve kaygının yanında dışlanma durumları yine toplumsal ölçekte Türkiye’nin ve dünya toplumlarının deneyimlediği ilkleri barındırmaktadır. Sağlık Bakanlığı’nın sorumluluk paylaşımına yönelik yeni bir söylem geliştirmesi ve virüsün yayılması noktasında vatandaşı “sorumlu” bir birey olarak muhatap alması da yeni bir tartışma ve tanımlama zeminini de gerekli kılmaktadır. Bununla beraber bu çalışmada Türkiye’de Covid-19 virüsünün yayılım hızını etkileyen, genç nüfus oranı, ulaşım, tedavi, maske dağıtımı, HES kodu uygulaması gibi uygulamalar betimsel bir yöntem ile incelenmiş ve değerlendirilmiştir.

Herd Immunity Not Possible in Long-Term Care

Herd Immunity Not Possible in Long-Term Care

Quarantine Practices during Covid-19: Current Experiences and Strategic Prevention from Future Pandemics

This century has faced various pandemics within the couple of decades. These pandemics knocked global public health systems and opened up the gaps to grasp these outbreaks. Quarantine or isolation of the susceptible individuals is an ancient technique that has been proven very effective. This technique is however not practiced accurately for current pandemic of COVID-19, due to which the COVID-19 infection is re-occurring in most part of the world.

Purchasing policy, quarantine and acclimation practices of breeding gilts in Belgian pig farms

BackgroundThe breeding population is very important in pig herds, for productivity, health and profitability. Replacement of breeding animals can be accomplished by own rearing of breeding gilts or by purchasing them. Purchasing breeding gilts is a hazardous event in terms of biosecurity and introduction of pathogens into a farm. However, in literature, little is known about gilt introduction in a herd. The present study investigated the introduction procedures of purchased breeding gilts in Belgian pig herds, and the compliance of these herds to the optimal introduction procedures. A questionnaire consisting of twenty questions related to farm characteristics (n = 2), purchasing policy (n = 6), quarantine period (n = 5), and acclimation practices (n = 7) was designed, and 68 farms completed the questionnaire during an on-farm interview.ResultsThe median (min. – max.) number of sows on the farms was 300 (85–2500). Fifty-seven per cent of the farms purchased breeding gilts, and there was a lot of variation in the frequency of purchase and the age at which gilts are purchased. On 95 % of those farms, a quarantine unit was used, and on most of these farms the quarantine was located on the farm itself (internal quarantine). The median (min. – max.) duration of the quarantine period was 42 (14–140) days. The most common acclimation practice was vaccination against Porcine parvovirus (96 %) and Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae (94 %), although in some farms exposure of gilts to farm-specific micro-organisms was done by providing faeces from suckling piglets (18 %) and bringing gilts in contact with sows that will be culled (16 %). Only 10 % of the farms complied with the optimal introduction procedures, i.e. purchasing policy, quarantine building and quarantine management.ConclusionsThis study showed that in many farms, practices related to purchasing, quarantine and acclimation could be improved to maintain optimal biosecurity.

What is associated with the increased frequency of heavy episodic drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic? Data from the PAHO regional web-based survey

BackgroundTo estimate the prevalence of changes in the frequency of self-reported heavy episodic drinking (HED) among drinkers in Latin America and Caribbean countries on alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to assess self-reported factors associated with the increased frequency of HED. MethodsData from 12,328 adults who responded to the cross-sectional survey conducted in 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean by Pan American Health Organization were used. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the effect of the sociodemographic characteristics, quarantine practices, and anxiety symptoms on the increase in frequency of HED among the 2019 drinkers. Results65 % of drinkers in 2019 self-reported HED during the COVID-19 pandemic with 13.8 % of the drinkers reporting an increase in HED compared to a 33.38 % decrease in HED. Multivariable analysis indicated that male gender (aOR 1.29, 95 %CI 1.13; 1.49), higher income (aOR 1.64, 95 %CI 1.35; 1.99) and higher level of quarantine practices (aOR 1.10, 95 %CI 1.04; 1.16) were positively associated with increased frequency of HED; unemployment (aOR 0.78, 95 %CI 0.64; 0.96), student status (aOR 0.53, 95 %CI 0.43; 0.64) and living with children (aOR 0.91, 95 %CI 0.84; 0.99) were negatively associated with increased frequency of HED. A gradient of association was found between generalized anxiety disorder and an increase in HED frequency during the pandemic. ConclusionAlong with other measures to decrease the spread of COVID-19, it is important to include measures to reduce alcohol consumption and address mental health conditions in the national response to the pandemic.