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The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life in Europe and globally. The pandemic affects both individuals and the broader society across many domains, including physical and psychological health, the economy and general welfare. The measures taken to counteract the pandemic have significantly altered daily life and, along with the threat of contracting the coronavirus and uncertainties surrounding future developments, created a complex system of stressors with a negative impact on public mental health. This paper aims to outline the ESTSS strategy to address mental health issues related to COVID-19 and focuses on (1) trauma-informed policies, (2) capacity building, (3) collaborative research and (4) knowledge-exchange. To facilitate implementation of a trauma-informed approach and appropriate measures, ESTSS has developed a toolkit of recommendations on mental health and psychosocial assistance to be provided during the different phases of crisis and its aftermath. To promote capacity building, ESTSS offers a certification programme based on a curriculum in psychotraumatology and corresponding on-line training to the European community of mental health professionals. To assure evidence-based approaches and methods tailored to current circumstances, ESTSS has initiated a pan-European research project with international cooperation aimed at studying the mental health consequences of the pandemic, with a focus on psychological trauma and other stress-related reactions. To foster knowledge-exchange, the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT), the official journal of ESTSS, is publishing a special issue on COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indonesian government has issued hundreds of regulations and policies to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These various policies and regulations assess how a government responds, mitigates, and prevents systemic crises in its country. These decisions- and policy-making processes are largely determined by the country's unique socioeconomic and political landscape. This paper reviewed 875 regulations issued by the Indonesian government at the national level in 2020–2022 to determine which policies have the most direct social, economic, and health impact on the Indonesian population. We highlight social protection to explore the challenges and opportunities to respond future risk by taking benefit from progressive effort of the Indonesian government to protect all Indonesian populations with the priority of the most vulnerable groups. This paper aims to map out government policies and regulations in handling the pandemic and exploring the potential opportunities for adaptation to respond future risk. The study is based on expert group discussion and policy mapping. As one of the findings of the investigation, this paper discusses the interaction between large-scale and micro-scale social restriction and social protection policies, which are considered the foremost solutions for handling Indonesia's more severe economic crisis and facing current and future risks, including climate change impact. While social protection is one of the massive strategies to relieve economic impact to the most affected group, effectiveness and success are still challenges concerning data. This paper also provides important notes regarding climate change adaptation and how the government must respond to future risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantitative geographical methods have played an important role in COVID-19 research. To complement and extend previous review studies, we conduct a scoping review of COVID-19 studies employing quantitative geographical approaches by focusing on 331 papers published in 45 journals in geography, urban studies, and planning. We identify four major research themes (clusters): (1) how SARS-CoV-2 viruses spread in cities, (2) the COVID-19 mortality (death) rates and their association with socioeconomic variables, (3) how the COVID-19 pandemic changed people's mobilities, and (4) how the COVID-19 pandemic affects air pollution. We conclude that spatial models play a key role in COVID-19 quantitative geographical approaches, and human mobility is an important and widely studied topic. We also reveal a lack of research focusing on environmental pollution (other than air pollution) that potentially worsened during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, the incidence of mucormycosis reached high levels during 2021–2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this, we established a multicentric ambispective cohort of patients hospitalised with mucormycosis across India. In this paper, we report their baseline profile, clinical characteristics and outcomes at discharge. Patients hospitalized for mucormycosis during March–July 2021 were included. Mucormycosis was diagnosed based on mycological confirmation on direct microscopy (KOH/Calcofluor white stain), culture, histopathology, or supportive evidence from endoscopy or imaging. After consent, trained data collectors used medical records and telephonic interviews to capture data in a pre-tested structured questionnaire. At baseline, we recruited 686 patients from 26 study hospitals, of whom 72.3% were males, 78% had a prior history of diabetes, 53.2% had a history of corticosteroid treatment, and 80% were associated with COVID-19. Pain, numbness or swelling of the face were the commonest symptoms (73.3%). Liposomal Amphotericin B was the commonest drug formulation used (67.1%), and endoscopic sinus surgery was the most common surgical procedure (73.6%). At discharge, the disease was stable in 43.3%, in regression for 29.9% but 9.6% died during hospitalization. Among survivors, commonly reported disabilities included facial disfigurement (18.4%) and difficulties in chewing/swallowing (17.8%). Though the risk of mortality was only 1 in 10, the disability due to the disease was very high. This cohort study could enhance our understanding of the disease's clinical progression and help frame standard treatment guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioethics provides various models of fair allocation of scarce health resources like COVID-19 vaccines. Even though these models are grounded in some ethical principles like justice and beneficence, there were severe inequalities in global access to COVID-19 vaccines. In Ghana, about 21.5 million COVID-19-doses have been administered but comprise mainly members of the adult population. As a result, ethical issues related to vaccinating children have been largely ignored in the country. This paper explores some of the ethical implications related to children's exclusion in the initial COVID-19 vaccination programs in Ghana. It provides a general overview of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana and how it related to children and discusses the risks to which Ghanaian children were exposed by delaying their COVID-19 vaccination. A guide to facilitating the full rollout of COVID-19 vaccination in Ghana for children has been proposed that indicates that a fair vaccine distribution for children should prioritize children on admission at health facilities, those diagnosed with severe underlying health conditions, and children who could play an instrumental role in promoting vaccine uptake. It concludes that children must not be placed at the peripheries of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research examines the implementation of the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) in Canada to identify opportunities revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic to re-design our social eco-system to promote wellbeing. This paper has two objectives: 1) to provide a conceptual review of research that applies the bioecological model to youth substance use prevention with a focus on the concepts of time and physical space use and 2) to describe a case study that examines the implementation of the IPM in Canada within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Study data were collected through semistructured qualitative interviews with key stakeholders involved in implementing the IPM. Results: Findings are organized within three over-arching themes derived from a thematic analysis: 1) Issues that influence time and space use patterns and youth substance use, 2) Family and community cohesion and influences on developmental context and time use and 3) Opportunities presented by the pandemic that can promote youth wellbeing. Conclusion: We apply the findings to research on the IPM as well as the pandemic to examine opportunities that may support primary prevention and overall youth wellbeing. We use the concepts of time and space as a foundation to discuss implications for policy and practice going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an optimal control model for the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 is investigated. We established important model properties like nonnegativity and boundedness of solutions, and also the region of invariance. Further, an expression for the basic reproduction number is computed and its sensitivity w.r.t model parameters is carried out to identify the most sensitive parameter. Based on sensitivity analysis, optimal control strategies were presented to reduce the disease burden and related costs. It is demonstrated that optimal control does exist and is unique. The characterization of optimal trajectories is analytically studied via Pontryagin's Minimum Principle. Moreover, various simulations were performed to support analytical results. The simulation results showed that the proposed controls significantly influence the disease burden compared to the absence of control cases. Further, it reveals that the applied control strategies are effective throughout the intervention period in reducing COVID-19 diseases in the community. Besides, the simulation results of the optimal control suggested that concurrently applying all controlling strategies outperform in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 compared to any other preventive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is grappled with an unprecedented challenges due to Corona virus. We are all battling this epidemic together, but we have not been able to defeat this epidemic yet. A new variant of this virus, named 'Omicron' is spreading these days. The fractional differential equations are providing us with better tools to study the mathematical model with memory effects. In this paper, we will consider an extended SER mathematical model with quarantined and vaccinated compartment to speculate the Omicron variant. This extended Susceptible Exposed Infected Recovered SER model involves equations that associate with the group of individuals those are susceptible (S), exposed (E): this class includes the individuals who are infected but not yet infectious, infectious (W): this class includes the individuals who are infected but not yet Quarantined, quarantined (Q): this class includes those group of people who are infectious, confirmed and quarantined, recovered (R) this class includes the group of individuals who have recovered, and vaccinated (V): this class includes the group of individuals who have been vaccinated. The non-negativity and of the extended SER model is analysed, the equilibrium points and the basic reproduction number are also calculated. The proposed model is then extended to the mathematical model using AB derivative operator. Proof for the existence and the uniqueness for the solution of fractional mathematical model in sense of AB fractional derivative is detailed and a numerical method is detailed to obtain the numerical solutions. Further we have discussed the efficiency of the vaccine against the Omicron variant via graphical representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2019 new coronavirus illness (COVID-19) is an international public health emergency. Our social and healthcare systems are under a great deal of strain as a result of the daily increase in infection rates and fatalities. Doctors typically perform a chest Xray to identify the diseased areas of the lungs since pneumonia is a common type of infection that spreads in the lungs. In this paper, we propose a Convolution Neural Network via the li regularization model to detect COVID-19 patients using chest X-Ray images. Due to the lack of the COVID-19 benchmark dataset, we use deep learning techniques to identify the best pre-trained CNN model for this job by comparing 15 models. The suggested algorithm was tested on 1316 photos (116 COVID-19 cases, 328 healthy controls, and 872 pneumonia cases), with 66% for training, 17% for validation, and 17% for testing. The classification accuracy, loss, valueaccuracy, and value-loss values obtained by the suggested technique are 0.9912, 0.0187, 0.1119, and 0.9506 respectively. Additionally, the model effectively decreases training loss while boosting accuracy. The results show that proposed procedures are more effective than existing ones at identifying COVID-19 cases from chest X-ray pictures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As COVID-19 is an emerging pandemic, analysing its evolution is necessary to understand it in order to find appropriate answers. In this paper, we aim to observe and analyse it at the Chadian-Senegalese level. Thus, we collect public data in order to present via curves, histograms and tables the main characteristics of this pandemic. In this way, we implement a python program to construct these. We focus only on extracting long-term data without predictive models. We observed that there are mainly two waves (outbreak) per year with stable or even decreasing infection and death rates. We also identified moments of growth and relaxation of the disease. These results can be used to identify times when treatment or prevention should be intensified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, the recent SARS-CoV-2 virus disease outbreak has infected more than 691,000,000 people and killed more than 6,900,000. Surprisingly, Sub-Saharan Africa has suffered the least from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Factors that are inherent to developing countries and that contrast with their counterparts in developed countries have been associated with these disease burden differences. In this paper, we developed data-driven COVID-19 mathematical models of two 'extreme': Cameroon, a developing country, and New York State (NYS) located in a developed country. We then identified critical parameters that could be used to explain the lower-than-expected COVID-19 disease burden in Cameroon versus NYS and to help mitigate future major disease outbreaks. Through the introduction of a 'disease burden' function, we found that COVID-19 could have been much more severe in Cameroon than in NYS if the vaccination rate had remained very low in Cameroon and the pandemic had not ended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV/AIDS-COVID-19 co-infection is a major public health concern especially in developing countries of the world. This paper presents HIV/AIDS-COVID-19 co-infection to investigate the impact of interventions on its transmission using ordinary differential equation. In the analysis of the model, the solutions are shown to be non-negative and bounded, using next-generation matrix approach the basic reproduction numbers are computed, sufficient conditions for stabilities of equilibrium points are established. The sensitivity analysis showed that transmission rates are the most sensitive parameters that have direct impact on the basic reproduction numbers and protection and treatment rates are more sensitive and have indirect impact to the basic reproduction numbers. Numerical simulations shown that some parameter effects on the transmission of single infections as well as co-infection, and applying the protection rates and treatment rates have effective roles to minimize and also to eradicate the HIV/AIDS-COVID-19 co-infection spreading in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explored how vulnerable, immunocompromised groups and caregivers of the elderly experienced and perceived the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted remotely between the 5th andthe 18th of April 2020 in the three South African provinces hardest hit by Covid-19, namely Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape. In total, 60 qualitative key informant interviews and one focus group discussion were conducted. Study participants expressed concerns for elderly people and people with underlying health conditions because of their increased vulnerability to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). People living with HIV expressed an increased fear of infection following the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. The sidelining of healthcare services and stock-outs of medication proved to be an added concern in particular for vulnerable and immunocompromised groups. Overall, the data suggest that the fear of infection is ubiquitous for people who live in unstable environments such as overcrowded townships and informal settlements. Given the increased fears of infection brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the mental health of vulnerable communities and those caring for them becomes an added burden for people living in unstable environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory tract infections are a common cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The current paper aims to treat this respiratory disorder. Therefore, we elucidated the phytochemical profile of Euphorbia milii flowers and isolated chlorogenic acid (CGA) for the first time. The electrospraying technique was utilized to prepare CGA nanoparticles in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/PLGA polymeric matrix. Complete in vitro characterizations were performed to determine particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, loading efficiency (LE), scanning electron microscopy and in vitro release study. The optimum formula (F2) with a particle size (454.36 ± 36.74nm), a surface charge (-4.56 ± 0.84 mV), % of LE (80.23 ± 5.74), an initial burst (29.46 ± 4.79) and % cumulative release (97.42 ± 4.72) were chosen for further activities. In the murine lung infection model, PVA/PLGA NPs loaded with CGA (F2) demonstrated in vivo antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using a plaque assay, the in vitro antiviral activity was investigated. The F2 exhibited antiviral activity against coronavirus (HCoV-229E) and (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), NRCEHKU270). The IC50 of F2 against HCoV-229E and MERS-CoV was 170 ± 1.1 and 223 ± 0.88 μg/mL, respectively. The values of IC50 of F2 were significantly lower (p<.05) than that of free CGA. Therefore, the encapsulation of CGA into electrospray PVA/PLGA NPs would be a promising tool as an antimicrobial agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue of the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT) presents 51 articles published between 2021 and 2023 and follows the Special Issue on pandemic-related traumatic stress research published in 2021 (O'Donnell, M. L., & Greene, T. [2021]. Understanding the mental health impacts of COVID-19 through a trauma lens. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12(1), 1982502). Research on traumatic stress during the pandemic has cast the spotlight on vulnerable populations and groups, notably front-line healthcare workers; people faced with major losses including the deaths of loved ones; those who personally survived debilitating and often life-threatening viral infection; and students who were isolated and experienced profound delays in their education, relationships, and emerging independence. The papers in this collection underscore the associations between COVID-19 related stressors and a plethora of adverse mental health sequelae, including posttraumatic stress reactions, and draw attention to the ubiquity of grief and moral injury and their wide-ranging and detrimental impact. Currently, there is a paucity of evidence on interventions to enhance resources, self-efficacy, and hope for affected groups and individuals through societal, organisational, and healthcare systems; however early research on the prevention of COVID-related traumatic stress disorders provides a basis for both hope and preparedness for the future. Stressors and traumatic events occurring due to the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with a wide range of mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress reactions, especially among vulnerable groups (e.g., front-line healthcare workers, individuals who faced major losses such as the deaths of loved ones, those who survived debilitating and often life-threatening infection). Loss and moral injury are common and potentially debilitating features of the pandemic. Societal, organisational, and healthcare system interventions to enhance resources, efficacy, and hope for affected groups and individuals are still in the early stages, although preliminary research on the prevention of COVID-related traumatic stress disorders is promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As teaching and learning processes evolve in the wake of COVID−19, fresh thinking about the role of remote online learning (ROL) is critical as part of a wider reimagining of education in a post-pandemic context. In this paper, attention is focused on ROL within teacher education. This study sought to explore pre-service teachers' perceptions of their ROL experiences in a Fijian teacher education programme. The qualitative study design was informed by transactional distance theory. Using a narrative inquiry approach, data from 15 pre-service teachers were collected and analysed. Via individual interviews conducted online, the prospective teachers shared their perceptions about the nature of interactions experienced whilst engaged in ROL during the pandemic. Data were analysed thematically, in relation to instructional dialogue, course structure, and autonomy. In-depth analysis of rich data allowed main themes to emerge that captured the participants' viewpoints. Prominent themes in instructional dialogue revealed some concerns about the precedence of textual communication over verbal in ROL and the perception of emphasis on product over the process of learning. In terms of course structure, volume of assessment and teaching style were among aspects which participants identified as affecting learner-content engagement. Comments about learner autonomy suggested that the pre-service teachers sought positives amidst the difficulties encountered, whilst maintaining a focus on completing the assessments and passing the course. The analysis of pre-service teachers' experiences offers insight into how aspects of ROL may challenge participant engagement within elements of teacher education courses. It highlights the support that needs to be provided to prospective teachers in order to reduce transactional distance, suggesting that effective course design and instructional dialogue to promote learner autonomy are both crucial to sustainable teacher education in the post-pandemic context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a recognised need internationally to reduce depression and anxiety among adolescents. As a population particularly sensitive to the amount and quality of social interaction, challenges for young people became magnified during COVID-19, particularly for students from under-represented and marginalised communities across the globe. This paper reports on a study conducted in Washington State, USA, that sought, via an alliance with students, parents, educators and community leaders, to gain insight into students' lived experiences during the pandemic. It aimed to better comprehend how experiences affected social emotional learning and use this understanding to explore ways of reducing students' mental health concerns. We created a diverse consortium, drawn from six schools. It comprised 13 students, predominantly students of colour, across the age range 11–18 years. Also participating were five other stakeholders: parents, educators and community leaders. The consortium's involvement in five online discussion sessions led to the collection of rich data, as participants shared perspectives on pandemic experiences and learning. Additionally, we administered a survey about group collaboration. Data were analysed thematically. The formation of the consortium represented a significant outcome in itself, providing a meaningful way of gaining understanding of the mental health and social emotional concerns of the students, their families and the other collaborators. Another outcome was the opportunity for students and parents to be at the same table and voice concerns about remote learning, sharing views on how changes affected students' learning and mental health. The consortium allowed for all voices to be heard. This research highlights the need for more attention and resources to be directed towards students of colour, not only across schools within the research setting but also elsewhere internationally. The connection of students with educators, parents and community stakeholders, by means of a consortium, can build a foundation through which the mental health needs of students in school may be addressed in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The end of a pandemic is as much a political act as biological reality. It is over not simply when case counts or deaths are reduced to some objectively determined acceptable level but also when, and if, the public accepts the stories that politicians and health officials tell about it. This paper has three aims. First, to develop the concept of a pandemic illness narrative – a public narrative that makes the experience of an outbreak meaningful to a community of people and explains when it will be finished. Using the case of the United States, the paper then examines how American state organisations and public health officials tried to disseminate a version of the 'restitution illness narrative' to make sense out of the COVID-19 pandemic and explain how it would ultimately end. Lastly, the paper describes the factors that made this narrative ultimately implausible to the American public. As most Americans are now seemingly indifferent about the pandemic, it has ended in the United States without ever actually being narratively concluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been contributing to new approaches to global governance. The Health Silk Road (HSR), a significant component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was proposed by China in 2016. This paper claims that HSR is a new institution introduced alongside the existing WHO-led multilateral health system, and its relationship with the existing system can be described as layering. Having explored the new development of HSR during COVID-19, this paper further argues that while HSR has its unique strength in making contributions to global health governance and economic recovery, it faces a prominent issue of securitisation in the context of China-U.S. strategic competition, suspicion of the quality of medical products and sectoral fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS-CoV2 is the latest pandemic that have plagued the socio-health system as an epiphenomenon resulting from planetary resources abuse, crucial for biodiversity. The Anthropocene best defines the present epoch in which human activity irreversibly manipulates intricate and delicate geological and biological balances established over eons. The devastating ecological and socio-economic implications of COVID-19, underline the importance of updating the present pandemic framework to a syndemic. This paper stems from the need to suggest to scientists, doctors, and patients a mission that integrates responsibility from individual to collective health, from present to trans-generational, from human to the entire biotic network. Today's choices are crucial for the perspective on all levels: political, economic, and health as well as cultural. Research on PubMed and other specific web-sites journal was performed on the topic "Microbiota", "Covid-19", "Pandemic", "Zoonosis", "SARS-CoV-2", "Environmental Pollutants", "Epigenetics", "Fetal Programming", "Human Extinction". Data collected were analysed for an integrative model of interconnection between environment, pregnancy, SARS-CoV-2 infection, and microbiota. Moreover, systematic literature review allowed to summarise in a table information about the worst pandemics that afflicted the human species recently. This paper offers a broad view of the current pandemic starting with pregnancy, the moment when a new life begins and the health trajectories of the unborn child are defined, which will inevitably have repercussions on his well-being. The fundamental role of the biodiversity-rich microbiota in avoiding the development of severe infectious diseases, is therefore highlighted. It is imperative to adjust the current reductionist paradigm based on mostly immediate symptom management towards a broader understanding of the spatial interconnection of ecological niches with human health and the impacts of today's choices on the future. Health and healthcare are elitist rather than egalitarian, therefore focusing on environmental health forces us to make a concerted and systemic effort that challenges political and economic barriers, which are biologically senseless. A healthy microbiota is essential to well-being, both by preventing chronic degenerative conditions, the infectiousness and pathogenicity of bacterial and viral diseases. SARS-CoV-2 should not be an exception. The human microbiota, forged by the first 1,000 days of life, is fundamental in shaping the health-disease trajectories, and by the everlasting exposome that is dramatically affected by the ecological disaster. Individual health is one world health whereas single and global well-being are interdependent in a space-time perspective. Is it not a convenient reductionism not to consider the COVID-19 emergency as a bio-social epiphenomenon of a far more devastating and multi-faceted crisis whose common denominator is the global biotic network loss of which humans are still part? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (nCoV-19, COVID-19) and its rampant spread led to a significant number of people being infected worldwide and disrupted several businesses. With most of the countries imposing serious lockdowns due to the increasing number of fatalities, the social lives of millions of people were affected. Although the lockdown led to an increase in network activities, online shopping, and social network usage, it also raised questions On the mental wellness of society. Interestingly, excessive usage of social networks also witnessed humor traveling across the Internet in the form of Internet Memes during the lockdown period. Humor is known to affect our well-being, decision-making, and psychological systems. In this paper, we have analyzed the Internet Meme activity in Social Networks during the COVID-19 Lockdown period. As humor is known to relieve individuals from psychological stress, it is necessary to understand how human beings adopted Internet Memes for coping up with the lockdown stress and stress-relieving mechanism during the lockdown period. In this paper, we have considered thirty popular memes and the increase in the number of their captions within the period (September 2017 to August 2020). An increase in Internet Meme activity since the lockdown period (March 2020) depicts an increase in online social behavior. We analyze the internet meme activity in social networks during the COVID-19 lockdown period using random forest, multi-layer perceptron, and instance-based learning algorithms followed by data visualization using line graph and Heat Map (8 & 15 clustered). We also compared the performance of the models using evaluation parameters like mean absolute error, root-mean-squared error & Kappa statistics and observed that random forest and instance-based learning algorithms perform better than multi-layer perceptrons. The result indicates that random forest and instance-based learning classifiers are having near perfect classification tendencies whereas multi-layer perceptrons showed around 97% classification accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has suggested that older trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people may face particular challenges related to stigma, social exclusion and discrimination in later life. However, direct data on social support and needs in older TGNC population both internationally and within the UK is limited due to the small, dispersed nature of this population, and the absence of specific data collection on aging TGNC populations. During the UK COVID-19 lockdown in summer 2020, older people and those with long-term health conditions were advised to adopt particular precautions. This study aimed to explore older TGNC people's social support networks, key concerns and unmet needs during the COVID-19 'lockdown'. A UK cross-sectional survey of LGBT + people aged 60+ (n = 375) was undertaken during the lockdown. This paper analyses responses from the subset (n = 38) of TGNC participants. The majority of TGNC respondents described diverse social networks, often centered around friends and non-kin social networks, although partners and adult children were also significant for some. In most cases, those with existing strong networks continued to maintain social connections during lockdown, albeit with some regrets about loss of activities and face-to-face connection. However, a minority of respondents had experienced greater challenges prior to lockdown, and may have been at increased vulnerability during the pandemic, for example indicating that they had no-one to call on for practical support in an emergency. When asked about unmet needs and challenges, social isolation was repeatedly raised as the most frequent concern. Several respondents also mentioned issues specifically affecting TGNC communities, including access to gender affirming care and a perceived rise in social intolerance. Health and social care providers should be aware of the diversity of support networks within TGNC communities. There may also be benefits in community sector interventions to help older TGNC build and maintain strong social networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates spatiotemporal dynamics of the effects of urban form on the Covid-19 spread within local communities in Salt Lake County, Utah, in the United States. We identify three types of communities—minority, traditional urban and suburban, and new suburban—and three stages throughout March 2020—September 2021, reflecting the initial, outbreak, and recovery stages. While the traditional urban and suburban communities experience the least risk of Covid-19, minority communities are severely impacted in the initial and outbreak stages, and remote suburban communities are primarily affected in the outbreak and recovery stages. The regression further reveals the role of urban form in the pandemic. High-density urban land use is the main density factor contributing to the disease's spread. In the initial stage, mobility factors such as street connectivity and walkability contribute to the local spread, while land use mixture is the catalyst in the outbreak stage. A comprehensive compact development might offset these negative effects on local public health, and its contribution to local resilience in the recovery stage is also confirmed. Thus, compact development is still valuable for building urban resilience, and proper planning and policies can offset the potential adverse effects of pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spread seriously throughout the world. Predicting the spread, or the number of cases, in the future can facilitate preparation for, and prevention of, a worst-case scenario. To achieve these purposes, statistical modeling using past data is one feasible approach. This paper describes spatio-temporal modeling of COVID-19 case counts in 47 prefectures of Japan using a nonlinear random effects model, where random effects are introduced to capture the heterogeneity of a number of model parameters associated with the prefectures. The negative binomial distribution is frequently used with the Paul-Held random effects model to account for overdispersion in count data; however, the negative binomial distribution is known to be incapable of accommodating extreme observations such as those found in the COVID-19 case count data. We therefore propose use of the beta-negative binomial distribution with the Paul-Held model. This distribution is a generalization of the negative binomial distribution that has attracted much attention in recent years because it can model extreme observations with analytical tractability. The proposed beta-negative binomial model was applied to multivariate count time series data of COVID-19 cases in the 47 prefectures of Japan. Evaluation by one-step-ahead prediction showed that the proposed model can accommodate extreme observations without sacrificing predictive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical geopolitics conceives of the internal organization of the state as a relevant geopolitical subfield. In this context, this paper aims to develop a geopolitical interpretation of the covid-19 crisis management in Catalonia and Spain from March 2020 to mid-April 2020. The paper begins by providing an overview of internal geopolitics literature by Spanish geographers, focusing on the Catalonia/Spain conflict, followed by a thorough analysis of written and oral materials compiled for that purpose. Three discursive periods are identified: up until the declaration of the State of Alarm in mid-March 2020, the first two weeks with this in force, and the first half of April 2020. The paper evinces that the examined materials support contested visions about the distribution of territorial powers within Spain, while also unearthing some specificities that ultimately relate to the Catalan national question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital agriculture solutions hold a promise to build agri-food food systems that are more efficient, environmentally sustainable, and inclusive, thereby contributing to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. In most African countries, the rapid adoption of mobile phones and other digital tools have accelerated the deployment of agricultural services for farmers and other value chain actors resulting in enhanced access to information, knowledge, financial services, markets, and farm tools. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to fast-track the deployment of contact-free digital solutions along the agri-food value chains. Despite the numerous opportunities presented by the digital agricultural revolution, its potential to transform agri-food systems in Africa remains uncertain. With a broad perspective on Africa, this paper explores the emerging evidence on digital agricultural services including key drivers, evidence on impact, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper concludes with some implications for policy makers and professionals in agricultural economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how SARS-CoV-2 alters tight junctions (TJs) in human organs. The effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the ACE/Ang II/AT1R pathway and immune cells culminates in the release of numerous pro-inflammatory mediators, leading to the presence of certain symptoms in COVID-19, such as acute lung injury (ALI), pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary fibrosis. Furthermore, the cytokines released alter different TJs components. The study shows how the irregular release of pro-inflammatory cytokines leads to claudin disruption in various tissues of the body, resulting in different symptoms, such as alveolar fibrosis, pulmonary edema, conjunctivitis, altered fertility in males, gastrointestinal symptoms, Covid toes, and others. SARS-CoV-2 also alters occludin expression in the endothelial and blood-testis barriers (BTB) resulting in edema and altered fertility. Viral disruption of JAM-A leads to activation of the RhoA GTPase, which leads to ALI. Taken together, these results define ACE/Ang II/AT1R pathway receptors and tight junctional components as potential therapeutic targets in COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People across the globe witnessed the meteoric rise of the recently discovered coronavirus, which caught governments, healthcare systems, and civilisations off guard. Robotics, self-governing systems, and intelligent devices can contribute positively to a rapid epidemic. Smart assistive robots can help patients and healthcare staff in general and make the anticipation, containment, and exacerbation of coronavirus easier by highlighting the coronavirus burden on healthcare structures during a crisis. In this type of situation, a smart-assistive robot with aid capabilities is promising, especially for those putting their lives in jeopardy by interacting with ill patients in hygienic environments. By providing regular monitoring and patient assistance, the intelligent helper robot could assist in lowering the danger of illness spreading to others. Concerning the application this paper discusses, a robot with a wheeled base and a humanoid structure can aid isolated patients and connect wirelessly anywhere in the world (using the Internet of Things) with patients far away more effectively without any physical touch. The designed robot is incredibly light (approximately 7 kg) and easily transported to the appropriate location (any hospital or medical camp, for example). Its modular design allows quick assembly and disassembly. The robot can comfortably handle 10–15 kg of load on its holding plate. This study also explains the structural capability and method of directing the robot in an unfamiliar area using ultrasonic sensors for obstacle avoidance, a camera module for real-time vision, and a Skype call feature that may enable doctors to keep tabs on a patient’s health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU is a new form of political organisation which can be defined as an "experimental polity". Its distinctiveness lies in a novel assemblage of the constituent elements of polity (boundaries, binding authority, and bonding ties), and in the constant testing of new combinations of such elelements when facing functional and political challenges. Experimentalism is not always successful and can occasionally trigger off dynamics of polity disruption. The paper illustrates two instances of 'bad experiments' along the bounding and binding dimensions, i.e. Brexit and the euro crisis. It then focuses on the Covid 19 crisis and shows that in this case EU leaders were able not only to launch an ambitious plan of response based on joint action, but also to re-establish an "ethos of togetherness" among the Member States, on which to build for securing both social solidarity and political stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the primary route of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was not well understood. Research gathered from other respiratory infectious diseases, including other coronaviruses, was the basis for the initial perceptions for transmission of SARS-CoV-2. To better understand transmission of SARS-CoV-2, a rapid literature review was conducted from literature generated 19 March 2020, through 23 September 2021. 18,616 unique results were identified from literature databases and screened. Of these, 279 key articles were reviewed and abstracted covering critical topics such as environmental/workplace monitoring, sampling and analytical method evaluation, and the ability of the virus to remain intact and infectious during sampling. This paper describes the results of the rapid literature review, which evaluated pathways that contribute to transmission as well as the strengths and limitations of current sampling approaches. This review also evaluates how different factors, including environmental conditions and surface characteristics, could impact the transmission potential of SARS-CoV-2. A continual rapid review in the midst of a pandemic proved particularly useful for quickly understanding the transmission parameters of the virus and enabled us to comprehensively assess literature, respond to workplace questions, and evaluate our understanding as the science evolved. Air and surface sampling with the accompanying analytical methods were not generally effective in recovering SARS-CoV-2 viable virus or RNA in many likely contaminated environments. In light of these findings, the development of validated sampling and analysis methods is critical for determining worker exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and to assess the impact of mitigation efforts. Copyright © 2023 American Association for Aerosol Research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent days, COVID-19 pandemic has affected several people's lives globally and necessitates a massive number of screening tests to detect the existence of the coronavirus. At the same time, the rise of deep learning (DL) concepts helps to effectively develop a COVID-19 diagnosis model to attain maximum detection rate with minimum computation time. This paper presents a new Residual Network (ResNet) based Class Attention Layer with Bidirectional LSTM called RCAL-BiLSTM for COVID-19 Diagnosis. The proposed RCAL-BiLSTM model involves a series of processes namely bilateral filtering (BF) based preprocessing, RCAL-BiLSTM based feature extraction, and softmax (SM) based classification. Once the BF technique produces the preprocessed image, RCAL-BiLSTM based feature extraction process takes place using three modules, namely ResNet based feature extraction, CAL, and Bi-LSTM modules. Finally, the SM layer is applied to categorize the feature vectors into corresponding feature maps. The experimental validation of the presented RCAL-BiLSTM model is tested against Chest-X-Ray dataset and the results are determined under several aspects. The experimental outcome pointed out the superior nature of the RCAL-BiLSTM model by attaining maximum sensitivity of 93.28%, specificity of 94.61%, precision of 94.90%, accuracy of 94.88%, F-score of 93.10% and kappa value of 91.40%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we searched for the latest literature on the use of deep learning applications to combat COVID-19 and these were identified from several search engines including IEEE Xplore, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. This involved a comprehensive analysis of the studies to identify the challenges associated with the use of deep learning models with a view to highlight the possible future trends in the development of deep learning systems that are efficient and more reliable for the diagnosis of COVID-19 patients. This paper provides information related to the deep learning techniques used to detect COVID-19. This paper discusses the Convolutional Neural Networks’ (CNNs) structure, how to train CNNs, and highlights the different pre-trained models of CNNs that can be used for the detection of COVID-19. This paper explores the latest developments in the diagnosis of COVID-19 using deep learning applications that rely on the use of X-ray images taken from medical imaging samples. A review of the different models developed to facilitate effective diagnosis of COVID-19 provides information regarding the experimental data, the data splitting techniques used, as well as the proposed architecture for detecting COVID-19 and the different evaluation metrics for each model. This paper is a useful resource for medical and technical experts, as it helps them to develop a sound understanding of how deep learning techniques can be harnessed to stop the spread of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have been conducted on effects of COVID-19 on health, social and economic situation. However, evidence on the African continet on the responsiveness to sexual gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been adequately documented. This paper systematically reviews evidence from the African context regarding how countries responded to sexual gender-based violence during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Drivers shaping the occurrence of SGBV included social and political responsiveness. The forms of SGBV experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic included; sexual; social- economic; physical emotional and domestic violence. Factors affecting responsiveness towards SGBV includes; limited availability or accessibility to the justice system, challenges accessing health services, inadequate human resources, fear of contracting COVID-19, social and economic barriers, and breakdown of social networks. Strategies for enhancing responsiveness included; training support, status on referral and linkages systems, protection services such as shelters and safety services, helplines and hotlines/communication, and collaboration on SGBV response. Conclusion: There is need to strengthen broader systems responsiveness through collaboration by creating strategies that promote reduction of SGBV. These strategies should include; community engagement to shift social -cultural norms towards gender and sexuality, creating social development opportunities for empowering and enabling women and girls with self-help and reliant activities, leveraging on community health systems structures to detect, link and monitoring of SGBV cases as well as co-integration of traditional justice system into the mainstream. Subjects: Behavioral Medicine; Community Health; Preventative Medicine; Allied Health; Health & Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and China reported the first case to the World Health Organization in December 2019, there was no evidence-based treatment to combat it. With the catastrophic situation that followed, materialised by a considerable number of deaths, researchers, doctors, traditional healers, and governments of all nations committed themselves to find therapeutic solutions, including preventive and curative. There are effective treatments offered both by modern medicine and traditional medicine for COVID-19 today. However, other therapeutic proposals have not been approved due to the lack of effectiveness and scientific rigour during their development process. Proponents of modern medicine prefer biomedical therapies while in some countries, traditional treatments are used regularly because of their availability, affordability and satisfaction they bring to the population. In this paper, we propose a transactional medicine approach where the interaction between traditional and modern medicine produces a change. With this approach, the promoters of traditional medicine and those of modern medicine will be able to acquire knowledge through the experience produced by their encounters. Transactional medicine aims to be a model for decolonising medicine and recognising the value of both traditional and modern medicine in the fight against COVID-19 and other global emerging pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates global health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic through the 'two regimes of global health' framework. This framework juxtaposes global health security, which contains the threat of emerging diseases to wealthy states, with humanitarian biomedicine, which emphasises neglected diseases and equitable access to treatments. To what extent did the security/access divide characterise the response to COVID-19? Did global health frames evolve during the pandemic? Analysis focused on public statements from the World Health Organization (WHO), the humanitarian nonprofit Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Following a content analysis of 486 documents released in the first two years of the pandemic, the research yielded three findings. First, the CDC and MSF affirmed the framework; they exemplified the security/access divide, with the CDC containing threats to Americans and MSF addressing the plight of vulnerable populations. Second, surprisingly, despite its reputation as a central actor in global health security, the WHO articulated both regime priorities and, third, after the initial outbreak, it began to favour humanitarianism. For the WHO, security remained, but was reconfigured: instead of traditional security, global human health security was emphasised – collective wellbeing was rooted in access and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and practitioners recognise the importance of context when implementing healthcare interventions, but the influence of wider environment is rarely mapped. This paper identifies the country and policy-related factors potentially explaining the country differences in outcomes of an intervention focused on improving detection and management of heavy alcohol use in primary care in Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Qualitative data obtained through interviews, logbooks and document analysis are used to explain quantitative data on number of alcohol screenings and screening providers in each of the countries. Existing alcohol screening standards in Mexico, and policy prioritisation of primary care and consideration of alcohol as a public health issue in Colombia and Mexico positively contributed to the outcome, while the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact. In Peru, the context was unsupportive due to a combination of: political instability amongst regional health authorities; lack of focus on strengthening primary care due to the expansion of community mental health centres; alcohol considered as an addiction rather than a public health issue; and the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare. We found that wider environment-related factors interacted with the intervention implemented and can help explain country differences in outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2022 was a year of crises, not just one but multiple intersecting crises that caused traumatic stress in billions of people worldwide. COVID-19 is still not over. New wars have started, and the climate change impact is bigger than ever. Will the Anthropocene be an era of continued crises? This past year the European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT) has again tried to contribute to how to prevent or treat the consequences of these major crises as well as other events and we will continue to do so the year to come. For instance, we will have special issues or collections addressing these big issues, such as climate change and traumatic stress, or early intervention after trauma or in times of conflict. In this editorial, we also present the past year's excellent journal metrics regarding reach, impact, and quality and the ESTSS EJPT award finalists for best paper of 2022 and look forward to 2023. 2022 was a year of multiple intersecting crises causing traumatic stress to billions of people around the world. European Journal of Psychotraumatology (EJPT) aims to contribute to how to understand, prevent or treat the consequences of these major crises. EJPT's editorial team again achieved excellent journal metrics regarding reach, impact, and quality in 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the current state of knowledge focusing on the second-order impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through a geospatial lens. The purpose is twofold: (1) present a global programme – Cities' COVID Mitigation Mapping (C2M2) programme – focusing on urban areas that explores second-order impacts through the use of geospatial tools and technologies, and (2) identify and assess the emerging literature on second-order impacts using geospatial data and analysis to support this project. Effects of the pandemic are rapidly unfolding across the world; however, an assessment of the literature reveals that second-order impacts of COVID-19 are seasonal, spatial, and scalar across multiple thematic areas includ-ing the economy, environmental health sector, education, and migration/mobility. Successive waves of the pandemic are continuing to be met with specific public health measures (e.g. lockdowns, travel restrictions, social distancing guidance, mandates for the use of personal protective equipment) that will have long-term impacts on vulnerable populations. A literature review was conducted to identify how the pandemic's second-order impacts derived from geospatial data and analysis can provide the basis for using geospatial data to study vulnerable urban populations more generally. This review reveals a gap in the literature, with far more articles emphasizing geospatial approaches to assess first-order impacts and alimited number of articles focused on geospatial approaches investigating second-order impacts. Nonetheless, this nascent literature provides the basis for designing approaches with local partners and by local and regional governments to apply geospatial data and methodologies to the development of mitigation strategies to prioritize limited resources to minimize the long-term consequences of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper's main aim is to investigate the 2019 coronavirus disease in Ethiopia using a fractional-order mathematical model. It would also focus on the importance of fractional-order derivatives that may help us in modelling the system and understanding the effect of model parameters and fractional derivative orders on the approximate solutions of our model. A SELAIQHCR model is constructed using nonlinear differential equations in the Atangana–Baleanu non-integer operator in the Caputo sense. After that, the Chebyshev fourth kind spectral collocation method is used to change a fractional system to an algebraic system. Newton iterative technique is used to solve the converted system. The next-generation matrix technique is used to obtain the effective reproduction number. The COVID-19-free equilibrium point and endemic equilibrium point, solution positivity and boundedness, and their stability are all carefully done. The sensitivity of the effective reproduction value with respect to the key model parameters is discussed. The beginning values provided for our system were obtained using reports from the Ethiopian Public Health Institute from 29 February 2021 to 7 June 2021. The fundamental reproduction number is obtained with R 0 = 1.4331. The model's numerical solutions are represented graphically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemics such as COVID-19 present a substantial menace to public health and global economies. While the problem of epidemic forecasting has been thoroughly investigated in the literature, there is limited work studying the problem of optimal epidemic control. In the present paper, we introduce a novel epidemiological model (EM) that is inherently suitable for analyzing different control policies. We validated the potential of the developed EM in modeling the evolution of COVID-19 infections with a mean Pearson correlation of 0.609 CI 0.525-0.690 and P-value < 0.001. To automate the process of analyzing control policies and finding the optimal one, we adapted the developed EM to the reinforcement learning (RL) setting and ran several experiments. The results of this work show that the problem of optimal epidemic control can be significantly difficult for governments and policymakers, especially if faced with several constraints at once, hence, the need for such machine learning-based decision support tools. Moreover, it demonstrated the potential of deep RL in addressing such real-world problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection has become a global public health issue, and it has been a cause for morbidity and mortality of more people throughout the world. In this paper, we investigated the impacts of vaccination, other protection measures, home quarantine with treatment, and hospital quarantine with treatment strategies simultaneously using a deterministic mathematical modelling approach. No one has considered these intervention strategies simultaneously in his/her modelling approach. We examined all the qualitative properties of the model such as the positivity and boundedness of the model solutions, the disease-free and endemic equilibrium points, the effective reproduction number using next-generation matrix method, local stabilities of equilibrium points using the Routh–Hurwitz method. Using the Centre Manifold criteria, we have shown the existence of backward bifurcation whenever the COVID-19 effective reproduction number is less than unity. Moreover, we have analysed both sensitivity and numerical simulation using parameter values taken from published literature. The numerical results show that the transmission rate is the most sensitive parameter we have to control. Also vaccination, other protection measures, home quarantine with treatment, and hospital quarantine with treatment have great effects to minimize the COVID-19 transmission in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we assess the effectiveness of different non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against COVID-19 utilizing a compartmental model. The local asymptotic stability of equilibria (disease-free and endemic) in terms of the basic reproduction number have been determined. We find that the system undergoes a backward bifurcation in the case of imperfect quarantine. The parameters of the model have been estimated from the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India. Sensitivity analysis of the basic reproduction number has been performed. The findings also suggest that effectiveness of face masks plays a significant role in reducing the COVID-19 prevalence in India. Optimal control problem with several control strategies has been investigated. We find that the intervention strategies including implementation of lockdown, social distancing, and awareness only, has the highest cost-effectiveness in controlling the infection. This combined strategy also has the least value of average cost-effectiveness ratio (ACER) and associated cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the dynamical behaviour of a stochastic coronavirus (COVID-19) susceptible-infected-removed epidemic model with the inclusion of the influence of information intervention and Lévy noise. The existence and uniqueness of the model positive solution are proved. Then, we establish a stochastic threshold as a sufficient condition for the extinction and persistence in mean of the disease. Based on the available COVID-19 data, the parameters of the model were estimated and we fit the model with real statistics. Finally, numerical simulations are presented to support our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is a disease caused by infection with the virus 2019-nCoV, a single-stranded RNA virus. During the infection and transmission processes, the virus evolves and mutates rapidly, though the disease has been quickly controlled in Wuhan by 'Fangcang' hospitals. To model the virulence evolution, in this paper, we formulate a new age structured epidemic model. Under the tradeoff hypothesis, two special scenarios are used to study the virulence evolution by theoretical analysis and numerical simulations. Results show that, before 'Fangcang' hospitals, two scenarios are both consistent with the data. After 'Fangcang' hospitals, Scenario I rather than Scenario II is consistent with the data. It is concluded that the transmission pattern of COVID-19 in Wuhan obey Scenario I rather than Scenario II. Theoretical analysis show that, in Scenario I, shortening the value of L (diagnosis period) can result in an enormous selective pressure on the evolution of 2019-nCoV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A person trapped in a building engulfed in a raging fire, a person dealing with severe chronic disease, people dealing with a virus pandemic, and people fighting in a protracted war may appear dissimilar but are fundamentally in a similar situation and their behaviors follow a predictable and similar pattern. In this paper, the behaviors of rational people dealing with a significant persistent unpleasant, or dangerous stimulus that is inescapable are elucidated. The unique modulatory effects of stimulus persistence on human behavior as well as the role of means and interest are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As social inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been recognised, emerging research showed that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people may be additionally affected during the pandemic. This paper adds to the understanding of the experiences of LGB people during the pandemic with a focus on Hong Kong, where issues of space significantly influence LGB people's lives in this city with high population density. As part of a larger community study of LGB lives in Hong Kong, COVID-19-related impact on 434 Chinese-speaking LGB people was explored. Data collection was conducted from 20 May to 30 June 2020. Inductive thematic analysis of the open-text response survey data found that the LGB participants described both negative and positive impacts brought by COVID-19. Such impacts could be dimensionalised into those related to personal space and privacy, romantic and sexual space, and community space. It was also found that the experiences of COVID-19 among LGB people in Hong Kong were intersectional, along the lines of living arrangement and relationship status. Such findings make unique contributions to the emerging literature. First, there needs to be a more nuanced understanding of sexual minority individuals' experiences during COVID-19 across cultural contexts. Second, COVID-19 was described as having brought positive impact in addition to its widely known negative impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 threatens hard-won gains in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) through compromising the ability of services to meet needs. Youth are particularly threatened due to existing barriers to their access to services. CHIEDZA is a community-based integrated SRH intervention for youth being trialled in Zimbabwe. CHIEDZA closed in March 2020, in response to national lockdown, and reopened in May 2020, categorised as an essential service. We aimed to understand the impact of CHIEDZA's closure and its reopening, with adaptations to reduce COVID-19 transmission, on provider and youth experiences. Qualitative methods included interviews with service providers (n = 22) and youth (n = 26), and observations of CHIEDZA sites (n = 10) and intervention team meetings (n = 7). Analysis was iterative and inductive. The sudden closure of CHIEDZA impeded youth access to SRH services. The reopening of CHIEDZA was welcomed, but the necessary adaptations impacted the intervention and engagement with it. Adaptations restricted time with healthcare providers, heightening the tension between numbers of youths accessing the service and quality of service provision. The removal of social activities, which had particularly appealed to young men, impacted youth engagement and access to services, particularly for males. This paper demonstrates how a community-based youth-centred SRH intervention has been affected by and adapted to COVID-19. We demonstrate how critical ongoing service provision is, but how adaptations negatively impact service provision and youth engagement. The impact of adaptations additionally emphasises how time with non-judgemental providers, social activities, and integrated services are core components of youth-friendly services, not added extras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both developing and developed countries have felt the impact of COVID-19 on global politics and trade. The African continent faces new threats in addition to already existing challenges like poor infrastructure, underdevelopment and weak institutions. Through an analysis of official speeches and UN reports on the emerging developments around COVID-19, this paper explores the impact of the pandemic on Africa and answers the critical question of the potential and place for Africa's international relations in a post-COVID world. While many argue that COVID-19 has further deepened the gap between Africa and the developed world, this paper argues that it has also created opportunities for innovation and a re-emergence of Africa as a more vital continent in global politics and far removed from its colonial legacy. This study finds that Africa's vast resources and wealth of experts; its innovative local industries and rapid response potential; its active community and grassroots; its committed private sector; the work of the African Union; the continent's geopolitical and economic position, and its many lessons position it to be a strong player in a post-COVID world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of the coronavirus pandemic marked a watershed in Nigeria's socio-economic and political milieu, as it created panic in states. Security governance is one of the ingredients of peace and stability in society, but problems sometimes emanate from law enforcement lapses. This paper examined Nigeria's security governance dilemmas during the lockdown enforcement aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 and highlighted the key lessons from the government's approach to security governance during the period. Data are gathered through in-depth interviews, media reports and secondary sources. The qualitative paper combined non-killing theory and social contract theory. There were looting of shops, robbery, and killing by security forces, in Lagos, Warri, Aba, Umuahia and other cities during the lockdown owing to the problem of footprint/access. The findings revealed that, despite surveillance efforts, security governance was undermined by the activities of idle youths, non-state armed groups, and unprofessionalism of security forces. While there was a remarkable decrease in crimes compared with the pre-COVID-19 period, the lockdown did not deter troublemakers from engaging in violent acts, such as armed robbery, police violence, and kidnapping. Adequate palliatives should be provided first at high-risk areas during future lockdowns to prevent security threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 17th Sustainable Development Goal seeks to promote partnerships at various levels. To this end, COVID-19 vaccines development partnerships in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are inevitable in facilitating ethical access to affordable and safe vaccines the world over. With South Africa being part of the BRICS, its presence can assist in leveraging the partnership to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines developed by the BRICS are efficiently deployed in Africa. Through the tracking of announcements, documents and critical discourse analysis, and Geographical Information Systems, this paper investigates COVID-19 vaccines development collaboration in the BRICS and its implication for Africa. It emerges that there is an inherent discord in the BRICS, with bilateral arrangements both within and outside the forum being evident. This has resulted in advance breakthrough COVID-19 vaccines from China and Russia not widely tried across the BRICS. The paper notes that these developments weaken the global south and affect its potential to develop COVID 19 vaccines. The work recommends a reconsideration in terms of COVID-19 vaccines development and future proofing of collaboration within the BRICS and finding a way of having South Africa continue to lobby for affordable and accessible vaccines for Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]