Workplace Closures Research Articles

Modelling wellbeing during public health interventions for respiratory epidemics

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including lockdown measures, by governments around the world has been informed by mathematical modelling. Broadly, these models look to gauge how well NPIs control disease transmission. Here we present a model that not only forecasts the effectiveness of NPIs in restricting contacts but also assesses their influence on the mental wellbeing of affected populations. Our model is informed by data from the United Kingdom Time Use Survey, 2014-2015. This survey recorded the time participants spent in different social settings as well as self-reported enjoyment in these settings, allowing us to augment a quantitative model of social contact behaviour with associated wellbeing estimates. We use this model to assess the effectiveness of NPIs aimed at reducing social contacts in different settings and estimate their impact on population-level wellbeing. Our findings indicate that workplace closures represent the most effective intervention for slowing disease spread, while NPIs targeting other contact locations have comparatively limited impacts on transmission. Our model suggests that workplace closures not only effectively reduce infections but also have a relatively modest effect on population wellbeing levels.

A longitudinal study of mass loads of quaternary ammonium compounds in sludge associated with COVID-19 Stringency Index indicators in Beijing, China

This study estimated population normalized mass loads (PNML) of quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) including alkyltrimethylammonium chloride (ATMAC), benzylalkyldimethylammonium chloride (BAC), and dialkyldimethylammonium chloride (DADMAC) and assessed their associations with COVID-19 containment policies. We collected daily sludge specimens from five wastewater treatment plants in Beijing from July 2020 to May 2022. Using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we determined QAC concentrations and backward-estimated their PNML. We used COVID-19 Oxford Stringency Index and its metrics to measure containment policies. We analysed the relationship between QACs and containment measures using linear regression models. Among QACs categories, ΣBAC had median PNML of 94.54 μg/person/day, ΣDADMAC had 282.36 μg/person/day, and ΣATMAC had 802.55 μg/person/day. The ΣQACs median PNML was 1186.12 μg/person/day. The PNML of QACs appeared to have general increasing trend over time and were significantly different across seasons. PNML increased on average by 11 μg/person/day (95 % CI: 3.2, 19) for ΣBAC per 10-unit increase in Stringency Index score. Notably, higher stringency levels in three index indicators — workplace closures, internal movement restrictions, and public gathering restriction were positively associated with higher ΣQACs PNML. Sludge derived QACs may reflect the magnitude of disinfectant use at different stages of pandemic control response.

Confinement policies: controlling contagion without compromising mental health

ABSTRACT A growing literature shows that confinement policies used by governments to slow COVID-19 transmission have negative impacts on mental health, but the differential effects of individual policies on mental health remain poorly understood. We used data from the COVID-19 questionnaire of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which focuses on populations aged 50 and older, and the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker for 28 countries to estimate the effects of eight different confinement policies on three outcomes of mental health: insomnia, anxiety and depression. We applied robust machine learning methods to estimate the effects of interest. Our results indicate that closure of schools and public transportation, restrictions on domestic and international travel, and gathering restrictions did not worsen the mental health of older populations in Europe. In contrast, stay at home policies and workplace closures aggravated the three health outcomes analysed. Based on these findings, we close with a discussion of which policies should be implemented, intensified, or relaxed to control the spread of the virus without compromising the mental health of older populations.

The effect of school closures on standardized test scores: Evidence under zero-COVID policies

We study the effect of school closures on learning loss under Australia’s zero-COVID policies. School closures occurred together with preemptive shelter-in-place and non-essential workplace closures that successfully eliminated the spread of COVID. We exploit variation in the duration of school closures across Australian regions of 9-157 school days and student-level test score data from a national standardized test with high participation to estimate learning loss. Learning loss was substantially smaller than comparable estimates from the literature, which has almost exclusively studied COVID mitigation (rather than elimination) policy environments. Learning loss was minimal for disadvantaged socioeconomic groups.

Intervention effect of targeted workplace closures may be approximated by single-layered networks in an individual-based model of COVID-19 control

Individual-based models of infectious disease dynamics commonly use network structures to represent human interactions. Network structures can vary in complexity, from single-layered with homogeneous mixing to multi-layered with clustering and layer-specific contact weights. Here we assessed policy-relevant consequences of network choice by simulating different network structures within an established individual-based model of SARS-CoV-2 dynamics. We determined the clustering coefficient of each network structure and compared this to several epidemiological outcomes, such as cumulative and peak infections. High-clustered networks estimate fewer cumulative infections and peak infections than less-clustered networks when transmission probabilities are equal. However, by altering transmission probabilities, we find that high-clustered networks can essentially recover the dynamics of low-clustered networks. We further assessed the effect of workplace closures as a layer-targeted intervention on epidemiological outcomes and found in this scenario a single-layered network provides a sufficient approximation of intervention effect relative to a multi-layered network when layer-specific contact weightings are equal. Overall, network structure choice within models should consider the knowledge of contact weights in different environments and pathogen mode of transmission to avoid over- or under-estimating disease burden and impact of interventions.

How Do COVID-19 Job Loss and Workplace Closures Affect COVID-19 Policy Satisfaction and Conspiracy Beliefs?

The COVID-19 mobility restrictions, including workplace closures, introduced by national governments led to disruption of social and economic life including job loss. With the job loss, the victims may encounter social and economic threats which can prompt them to show less support for the government that introduced the workplace closures which led to their job loss. Thus, this study investigates whether job loss resulting from COVID-19 prompts COVID-19 anti-cohesive attitudes (dissatisfaction with government’s response to COVID-19, and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs) in Europe; and whether strictness of workplace closures moderates the first proposition. The focus is on Europe because the degree of job loss and workplace closures vary between countries. With some COVID-19 items from the round 10 data of the European Social Survey conducted between 2021 and 2023, and independent context indices, the propositions are tested using a mixed model having about 142 groups and 25000 observations. The model formula has COVID-19 anti-cohesive attitudes as the response variable, COVID-19 job loss as the predictor variable at individual level, while COVID-19 workplace closures is the context variable. The findings support the hypotheses: COVID-19 job losers (compared to COVID-19 job keepers) are about 20percent more likely to show anti-cohesive attitudes; also, COVID-19 anti-cohesive attitudes are more predominant among COVID-19 job losers where workplace closures are very strict compared to where workplace closures are low. These findings are useful for policy makers in future pandemic management. Also, scientists may find the results useful for research on socioeconomic threats, public policy and cohesive attitudes.

The Impact of Differential COVID-19 Pandemic Containment Policies on International Trade and Capital Flows

ABSTRACT This article develops a two-period two-country model to examine the impact of differential COVID-19 pandemic containment policies on international trade and capital flows. The theoretical analysis shows that asymmetric labor supply shocks resulting from the pandemic generate capital outflows from more affected countries to less affected ones, with the former running current account deficits. The greater the asymmetry in supply shocks, the more pronounced the impact on cross-border capital and trade flows. As the pandemic abated, these flows reversed, creating significant fluctuations over the pandemic cycle. However, globalization acted as a risk-sharing mechanism, moderating potential welfare losses. Using panel data from 42 countries, we investigate how specific containment policies like workplace closures and home isolation mandates affect trade and capital flows. Contrary to findings using higher frequency data, our empirical results confirm key predictions of our model, suggesting more stringent temporary containments, while dampening economic activity initially, may reduce COVID-19 cases and induce current account surpluses and capital inflows over a longer horizon.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the productivity and career prospects of musculoskeletal researchers.

Academic researchers faced a multitude of challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including widespread shelter-in-place orders, workplace closures, and cessation of in-person meetings and laboratory activities. The extent to which these challenges impacted musculoskeletal researchers, specifically, is unknown. We developed an anonymous web-based survey to determine the pandemic's impact on research productivity and career prospects among musculoskeletal research trainees and faculty. There were 116 musculoskeletal (MSK) researchers with varying demographic backgrounds who completed the survey. Of respondents, 48.3% (n = 56) believed that musculoskeletal funding opportunities decreased because of COVID-19, with faculty members more likely to hold this belief compared to nonfaculty researchers (p = 0.008). Amongst MSK researchers, 88.8% (n = 103) reported research activity was limited by COVID-19, and 92.2% (n = 107) of researchers reported their research was not able to be refocused on COVID-19-related topics, with basic science researchers less likely to be able to refocus their research compared to clinical researchers (p = 0.030). Additionally, 47.4% (n = 55) reported a decrease in manuscript submissions since the onset of the pandemic. Amongst 51 trainee researchers, 62.8% (n = 32) reported a decrease in job satisfaction directly attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. In summary, study findings indicated that MSK researchers struggled to overcome challenges imposed by the pandemic, reporting declines in funding opportunities, research productivity, and manuscript submission. Trainee researchers experienced significant disruptions to critical research activities and worsening job satisfaction. Our findings motivate future efforts to support trainees in developing their careers and target the recovery of MSK research from the pandemic stall.

Effects of parental job loss on psychotropic drug use in children: Long-term effects, timing, and cumulative exposure

Intra-family crossover effects triggered by job losses have received growing attention across scientific disciplines, but existing research has reached discrepant conclusions concerning if, and if so how, parental job losses affect child mental health. Drawing on sociological models of stress and life course epidemiology, we ask if parental job losses have long-term effects on child mental health, and if these effects are conditional on the timing of, or the cumulative exposure to, job losses. We use intergenerationally linked Swedish register data combined with entropy balance and structural nested mean models for the analyses. The data allow us to track 400,000 children over 14 years and thereby test different life-course models of cross-over effects. We identify involuntary job losses using information on workplace closures, thus reducing the risk of confounding. Results show that paternal but not maternal job loss significantly increases the risk of psychotropic drug use among children, that the average effects are modest in size (less than 4% in relative terms), that they may persist for up to five years, and that they are driven by children aged 6–10 years. Moreover, cumulative exposure to multiple job losses are more harmful than zero or one job loss.

Systematic review of empiric studies on lockdowns, workplace closures, and other non-pharmaceutical interventions in non-healthcare workplaces during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic: benefits and selected unintended consequences

BackgroundWe conducted a systematic review aimed to evaluate the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions within non-healthcare workplaces and community-level workplace closures and lockdowns on COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, selected mental disorders, and employment outcomes in workers or the general population.MethodsThe inclusion criteria included randomized controlled trials and non-randomized studies of interventions. The exclusion criteria included modeling studies. Electronic searches were conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, and other databases from January 1, 2020, through May 11, 2021. Risk of bias was assessed using the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Meta-analysis and sign tests were performed.ResultsA total of 60 observational studies met the inclusion criteria. There were 40 studies on COVID-19 outcomes, 15 on anxiety and depression symptoms, and five on unemployment and labor force participation. There was a paucity of studies on physical distancing, physical barriers, and symptom and temperature screening within workplaces. The sign test indicated that lockdown reduced COVID-19 incidence or case growth rate (23 studies, p < 0.001), reproduction number (11 studies, p < 0.001), and COVID-19 mortality or death growth rate (seven studies, p < 0.05) in the general population. Lockdown did not have any effect on anxiety symptoms (pooled standardized mean difference = -0.02, 95% CI: -0.06, 0.02). Lockdown had a small effect on increasing depression symptoms (pooled standardized mean difference = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.21), but publication bias could account for the observed effect. Lockdown increased unemployment (pooled mean difference = 4.48 percentage points, 95% CI: 1.79, 7.17) and decreased labor force participation (pooled mean difference = -2.46 percentage points, 95% CI: -3.16, -1.77). The risk of bias for most of the studies on COVID-19 or employment outcomes was moderate or serious. The risk of bias for the studies on anxiety or depression symptoms was serious or critical.ConclusionsEmpiric studies indicated that lockdown reduced the impact of COVID-19, but that it had notable unwanted effects. There is a pronounced paucity of studies on the effect of interventions within still-open workplaces. It is important for countries that implement lockdown in future pandemics to consider strategies to mitigate these unintended consequences.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO registration # CRD42020182660.

A mathematical model for evaluating the impact of nonpharmaceutical interventions on the early COVID-19 epidemic in the United Kingdom

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents a severe and urgent threat to global health. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have implemented nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including national workplace and school closures, personal protection, social distancing, contact tracing, testing, home quarantine, and isolation. To evaluate the effectiveness of these NPIs in mitigating the spread of early COVID-19 and predict the epidemic trend in the United Kingdom, we developed a compartmental model to mimic the transmission with time-varying transmission rate, contact rate, disease-induced mortality rate, proportion of quarantined close contacts, and hospitalization rate. The model was fitted to the number of confirmed new cases and daily number of deaths in five stages with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. We quantified the effectiveness of NPIs and found that if the transmission rate, contact rate, and hospitalization rate were approximately equal to those in the second stage of the most strict NPIs, and the proportion of quarantined close contacts increased by 3%, then the epidemic would die out as early as January 12, 2021, with around 1,533,000 final cumulative number of confirmed cases, and around 55,610 final cumulative number of deaths.

Assessing the Impact of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on Consumer Mobility Patterns and COVID-19 Transmission in the US.

The initial outbreak of COVID-19 during late December 2019 and the subsequent global pandemic markedly changed consumer mobility patterns worldwide, largely in response to government-ordered non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). In this study, we investigate these changes as they relate to the initial spread of COVID-19 within two states-Massachusetts and Michigan. Specifically, we use linear and generalized linear mixed-effects models to quantify the relationship between four NPIs and individuals' point-of-sale (POS) credit card transactions, as well as the relationship between subsequent changes in POS transactions and county-level COVID-19 case growth rates. Our analysis reveals a significant negative association between NPIs and daily POS transactions, particularly a dose-response relationship, in which stringent workplace closures, stay-at-home requirements, and gathering restrictions were all associated with decreased POS transactions. We also uncover a significant positive association between 12-day lagged changes in POS transactions compared to pre-pandemic baselines and county-level COVID-19 case growth rates. Overall, our study supports previous findings that early NPIs reduced human mobility and COVID-19 transmission in the US, providing policymakers with quantitative evidence concerning the effectiveness of NPIs.

Temporal clustering of social interactions trades-off disease spreading and knowledge diffusion.

Non-pharmaceutical measures such as preventive quarantines, remote working, school and workplace closures, lockdowns, etc. have shown effectiveness from an epidemic control perspective; however, they have also significant negative consequences on social life and relationships, work routines and community engagement. In particular, complex ideas, work and school collaborations, innovative discoveries and resilient norms formation and maintenance, which often require face-to-face interactions of two or more parties to be developed and synergically coordinated, are particularly affected. In this study, we propose an alternative hybrid solution that balances the slowdown of epidemic diffusion with the preservation of face-to-face interactions, that we test simulating a disease and a knowledge spreading simultaneously on a network of contacts. Our approach involves a two-step partitioning of the population. First, we tune the level of node clustering, creating 'social bubbles' with increased contacts within each bubble and fewer outside, while maintaining the average number of contacts in each network. Second, we tune the level of temporal clustering by pairing, for a certain time interval, nodes from specific social bubbles. Our results demonstrate that a hybrid approach can achieve better trade-offs between epidemic control and complex knowledge diffusion. The versatility of our model enables tuning and refining clustering levels to optimally achieve the desired trade-off, based on the potentially changing characteristics of a disease or knowledge diffusion process.

Analysis of increased motorcycle accidents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a single-center study from Türkiye.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a unique set of circumstances, straining health-care systems and affecting the way of life in societies around the world. Measures such as social isolation, travel restrictions, and workplace closures have led to an increase in motorcycle use. Consequently, motorcycle accidents have become a significant problem during this period. This study presents detailed research conducted to examine motorcycle accidents during the COVID-19 pandemic and to understand the causes and consequences of the increase in these accidents. This research evaluated records from a single health examination and used various models to analyze motorcycle acci-dents within a specified time period. Additionally, retrospective analyses were conducted to examine associations between motorcycle use and crashes in our country before and after the pandemic. The records of 386 patients who were injured in motorcycle accidents and followed up, received treatment, and were recorded at Biruni University Hospital between November 2015 and April 2023 were retrospectively examined. Noted details included the victims' age, gender, injury mechanism, injury site, injury severity, helmet use, presence and location of fractures, time distribution of the accident, and the severity of other important tissue injuries. The relationship between the injury site, fractures, and accident details, and the "Injury Severity Score" (ISS) was also investigated. Among the 386 injured victims in motorcycle accidents, 333 were male and 53 were female. Of these, 168 (43.5%) were motorcycle drivers, 137 (35.5%) were motorcycle couriers, and 81 (21%) were pedestrians. A total of 186 (48%) injuries occurred before the pandemic (November 2015-March 2020), while 200 (52%) were sustained during the pandemic. The study indicates a noticeable increase in motorcycle injuries, particularly among motor couriers, especially during the pandemic quarantine periods. Post hoc analysis revealed that motor couriers had significantly lower ISS compared to other professions (p=0.009 and p=0.045, respectively). Motorcyclists who wore helmets were found to have significantly lower ISS than those who did not wear helmets (p<0.05). Furthermore, it was found that the ISS was positively correlated with the number of bone fractures, total soft tissue injury, and significant clinical characteristics (r=0.758, r=0.756, and p<0.001, respectively). This clinical study's findings demonstrate that the measures implemented during the pandemic to limit society's mobility have led to an increase in motorcycle accidents. Notably, there has been a significant rise in the number of accidents, particularly involving individual motorcycle use and motorcycle courier services.

SOCIAL WELL-BEING OF OLDER PEOPLE IN ENGLAND SINCE THE PANDEMIC: DID ALREADY-ISOLATED OLDER ADULTS FARE WORSE?

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and actions to reduce transmission (including stay-at-home orders and workplace closures) have had an impact on actual and perceived social isolation and support across all age groups. There was a clear increase in social isolation during the pandemic, especially among older adults, potentially due to the heightened risks of complications and mortality if infected with the novel coronavirus. In England, employing data from the nationally representative English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and using pre- (2018/19) and during pandemic data (June/July 2020 and November/December 2020), we found that overall, older adults who were already experiencing social isolation prior to the pandemic (isolated group) experienced a larger rise in loneliness and drop in social contact during the pandemic than older adults who were previously socially connected (non-isolated group). Results are robust even when we account for the fact that respondents socially isolated (including those not married and with infrequent contact with relatives and friends) felt lonelier and less supported even before the pandemic, and when we adjust for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Expanding on this work with post-pandemic data collected between October 2021 and March 2023, this paper describes loneliness, social contact, and social support pre-, during, and post-COVID-19 pandemic and investigates whether and to what extent trends in social well-being continued to diverge between the isolated and non-isolated groups.

Spillovers from government policy during a crisis: Evidence from international trade during COVID‐19 lockdowns

AbstractWe examine how variation in the severity of government intervention in response to the COVID‐19 pandemic impacted trade, using a novel dataset on monthly bilateral trade flows between Canadian provinces and U.S. states. Our results show that differences in the collections of policy responses employed by states and provinces throughout the course of the pandemic have had a significant and heterogeneous impact in accounting for variation in changes in aggregate province‐state trade flows. Government interventions around workplace closures and gathering restrictions are associated with the largest drop in bilateral trade flows, especially when introduced by U.S. states and during periods when COVID‐19 case rates are rising, while many pandemic restrictions have no statistically significant impact on trade flows.

Changes in mobility patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Zambia: Implications for the effectiveness of NPIs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many facets of human behavior, including human mobility partially driven by the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as stay at home orders, travel restrictions, and workplace and school closures. Given the importance of human mobility in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, there have been an increase in analyses of mobility data to understand the COVID-19 pandemic to date. However, despite an abundance of these analyses, few have focused on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Here, we use mobile phone calling data to provide a spatially refined analysis of sub-national human mobility patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020-July 2021 in Zambia using transmission and mobility models. Overall, among highly trafficked intra-province routes, mobility decreased up to 52% during the time of the strictest NPIs (March-May 2020) compared to baseline. However, despite dips in mobility during the first wave of COVID-19 cases, mobility returned to baseline levels and did not drop again suggesting COVID-19 cases did not influence mobility in subsequent waves.

Mode-specific impacts of social distancing measures on the intra- and inter-urban mobility of public transit in Seoul during the COVID-19 pandemic

Social distancing measures (SDMs) mitigated the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by reducing human activity and mobility. However, few studies have explored SDMs’ effects on intra- and inter-urban mobility concerning public transit. This study employed the autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous variables models to examine distinct-level impacts of SDMs on intra- and inter-urban daily ridership by transit in Seoul, South Korea, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study found: (1) The effect of SDMs on transit mobility was more pronounced for subways than buses, despite both modes experiencing reduced mobility without completely ceasing operations. (2) No substantial disparity was observed between intra- and inter-urban transit mobility. (3) Although other measures effectively curtailed transit mobility, mask-wearing had no statistically significant impact on intra- and inter-urban transit usage. (4) Heightened SDMs (e.g., workplace closures, cancelation of public events, stay-at-home orders) have reduced transit mobility more for railways/subways than buses. These findings underscore the importance of considering the distinct impacts of diverse SDMs on transit mobility, thereby ensuring the sustainable functioning of public transit while mitigating the spread of infectious disease during pandemics.

The Pent-Up Demand for Breastfeeding Among US Women: Trends After COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place.

Objectives. To estimate changes in national breastfeeding trends immediately before and after COVID-19‒related workplace closures in early 2020. Methods. The implementation of shelter-in-place policies in early 2020, when 90% of people in the United States were urged to remain at home, represents a unique natural experiment to assess the pent-up demand for breastfeeding among US women that may be stymied by the lack of a national paid leave policy. We used the 2017-2020 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (n = 118 139) to estimate changes in breastfeeding practices for births occurring before and after shelter-in-place policies were implemented in the United States. We did this in the overall sample and by racial/ethnic and income subgroups. Results. There was no change in breastfeeding initiation and a 17.5% increase in breastfeeding duration after shelter-in-place, with lingering effects through late 2020. High-income and White women demonstrated the largest gains. Conclusions. The United States ranks worse than similar countries when it comes to breastfeeding initiation and duration. This study suggests that this is partly attributable to inadequate access to postpartum paid leave. This study also demonstrates inequities introduced by patterns of remote work during the pandemic. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(8):870-873. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307313).

Crisis response during the COVID-19 pandemic: Changes in social contact and social participation of older Americans.

This study aimed to assess changes in social contact with family, friends and healthcare providers, as well as social participation in working, volunteering, religious services and other organized activities, among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic while examining the role of pre-COVID sociodemographic characteristics or cognitive and physical limitations in changes in social contact and participation. We conducted secondary data analyses in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) COVID-19 questionnaire, collected in 2020 during a period of workplace closures and social distancing guidelines. We linked data to pre-COVID sociodemographic and medical information collected in 2019 before COVID interrupted social life. The frequency of participants' social contact and social participation prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, were compared using paired t-tests for summed scores. Multivariate linear regression was used to relate participants' socio-demographic, prior physical and cognitive performance with levels of social contact and participation and with changes reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, results from 2,486 eligible participants revealed that COVID-19 was associated with decreased social contact among family and friends (change: -0.62; SE: 0.06; p<0.0001), and social participation among older adults (change: -0.58; SE: 0.02; p<0.0001). Pre-COVID characteristics including older age, lower educational attainment, poorer physical performance, and more chronic conditions were associated with lower social contact and social participation and with how older adults adapted their social lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results emphasize the importance of increasing digital inclusion for older adults in a major crisis.