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Why have some territories performed better than others in the fight against COVID‐19? This paper uses a novel dataset on excess mortality, trust and political polarization for 165 European regions to explore the role of social and political divisions in the remarkable regional differences in excess mortality during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic. First, we investigate whether regions characterized by a low social and political trust witnessed a higher excess mortality. Second, we argue that it is not only levels, but also polarization in trust among citizens – in particular, between government supporters and non‐supporters – that matters for understanding why people in some regions have adopted more pro‐healthy behaviour. Third, we explore the partisan make‐up of regional parliaments and the relationship between political division – or what we refer to as 'uncooperative politics'. We hypothesize that the ideological positioning – in particular those that lean more populist – and ideological polarization among political parties is also linked to higher mortality. Accounting for a host of potential confounders, we find robust support that regions with lower levels of both social and political trust are associated with higher excess mortality, along with citizen polarization in institutional trust in some models. On the ideological make‐up of regional parliaments, we find that, ceteris paribus, those that lean more 'tan' on the 'GAL‐TAN' spectrum yielded higher excess mortality. Moreover, although we find limited evidence of elite polarization driving excess deaths on the left‐right or GAL‐TAN spectrums, partisan differences on the attitudes towards the European Union demonstrated significantly higher deaths, which we argue proxies for (anti)populism. Overall, we find that both lower citizen‐level trust and populist elite‐level ideological characteristics of regional parliaments are associated with higher excess mortality in European regions during the first wave of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The present work reports the EAO workshop group 5 and consensus plenary discussions and statements based on two reviews summarising European guidelines and experts' opinion on infection control and prevention (ICP) in dentistry during the pandemic. Material: Two manuscripts were presented at the 6th EAO Consensus Conference. The first study compared the most recent national guidelines/recommendations of European countries. The second paper was an experts' opinion‐based survey on application of ICP regulation during the second wave. The outcome of COVID‐19 group discussion was presented to all participants of the consensus to come to an agreement about the consensus statements and clinical recommendation. Results: The dynamic of the pandemic had an impact on rapidly published and frequently updated national guidelines in Europe. As guidelines were not based on solid evidence, they were supplemented by experts' opinion on ICP in dentistry. The dental care should be guaranteed during the pandemic; however, in case of suspected or confirmed COVID‐19 disease, the treatment should be postponed if possible. Remote triage and patient‐related measures (i.e., social distancing, hand hygiene and mask wearing) were recommended to be the most efficient to reduce SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission. The type of personal protective equipment for dental staff should be adequate to the procedure and infection risk. Conclusions: Adequate infection control protocols have to be followed by healthcare professionals and patients to minimise the spreading of COVID‐19. We foresee the importance of continuously updating the national dental guidelines, considering the evolution of the pandemic and new scientific evidence becoming available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the important question "Which European areas will be able to better react to the crisis induced by COVID‐19 and how regional disparities will look like?" To provide an answer, a "new normality" scenario is built, comprising the structural changes likely to take place in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. To develop such scenario, two intermediate steps are necessary, in both cases relying on the use of the latest generation of the MAcroeconomic, Sectoral, Social, Territorial (MASST4) model. First, short‐run costs of the COVID‐induced lockdowns, in terms of missed GDP, are calculated for all European NUTS2 regions, needed because of the lack of short‐run statistics about the extent of the regional costs caused by the lockdowns that will only appear in 2 years. Second, a long‐run simulation of the economic rebound expected to take place from 2021 through 2030 is presented, assuming, among other trends, that no further national lockdowns will be undertaken in European countries. In the "new normality" scenario, regional disparity trends will decrease as a result of a decisive rebound of those countries mostly hit by the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the uneven geography of COVID‐19‐related excess mortality during the first wave of the pandemic in Europe, before assessing the factors behind the geographical differences in impact. The analysis of 206 regions across 23 European countries reveals a distinct COVID‐19 geography. Excess deaths were concentrated in a limited number of regions—expected deaths exceeded 20% in just 16 regions—with more than 40% of the regions considered experiencing no excess mortality during the first 6 months of 2020. Highly connected regions, in colder and dryer climates, with high air pollution levels, and relatively poorly endowed health systems witnessed the highest incidence of excess mortality. Institutional factors also played an important role. The first wave hit regions with a combination of weak and declining formal institutional quality and fragile informal institutions hardest. Low and declining national government effectiveness, together with a limited capacity to reach out across societal divides, and a frequent tendency to meet with friends and family were powerful drivers of regional excess mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic led to a 72% reduction of air traffic over Europe in March–August 2020 compared to 2019. Modeled contrail cover declined similarly, and computed mean instantaneous radiative contrail forcing dropped regionally by up to 0.7 W m−2. Here, model predictions of cirrus optical thickness and the top‐of‐atmosphere outgoing longwave and reflected shortwave irradiances are tested by comparison to Meteosat‐SEVIRI‐derived data. The agreement between observations and modeled data is slightly better when modeled contrail cirrus contributions are included. The spatial distributions and diurnal cycles of the differences in these data between 2019 and 2020 are partially caused by differences in atmospheric and surface conditions, particularly for solar radiation in the spring of 2020. Aviation signals become discernible in the observed differences of these data between 2019 and 2020 when subtracting numerical weather prediction model results that approximate the atmosphere and surface conditions without contrails. Plain Language Summary: Aircraft flying in cold and humid air masses induce contrails which warm the Earth‐atmosphere system by reducing the terrestrial radiation out into space and cool by increasing the Earth's albedo. Previous studies found that the warming effects dominate and that contrails may contribute most of the present radiative forcing of climate change induced by aviation. The COVID‐19 pandemic led to a worldwide and long‐duration reduction of air traffic. This paper compares model predictions and satellite‐observed cirrus properties and irradiances over Europe for 6 months in 2019 and 2020. The models account for changes in the atmosphere and at the Earth's surface in the two half‐years. Model and observation results show about 90% correlation and 20% mean normalized deviations. The agreement between observed and modeled optical cirrus thickness and terrestrial irradiances improves slightly when the modeled contrail cirrus contributions are included. Solar radiation changes show a larger variability because of large changes in the lower atmosphere and at the Earth surface. Since worldwide traffic activity has stayed at low levels after August 2020, the comparisons may be extended. Further model studies, including the effects of other emissions, are needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the observed changes. Key Points: Air traffic reduction during the COVID‐19 pandemic is used for testing aviation contrail cirrus and related radiative forcing modelingCirrus optical depth and top‐of‐atmosphere irradiances from satellite observations and model results show reasonable correlationsAviation contrail signatures are identifiable in spite of strongly different atmosphere and surface conditions in 2019 and 2020 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has had an immediate and dramatic impact on dental education. The Association of Dental Education in Europe decided to carry out an investigation to assess the immediate response of European Academic Dental Institutions. An online survey was sent to both member and non‐member dental schools to investigate the impact on non‐clinical and clinical education, assessment and the well‐being/pastoral care measures implemented. The preliminary findings and discussion are presented in this paper, for the responses collected between the 25 March and 5 April 2020. The survey at this time of publication is ongoing, and detailed results can be accessed https://adee.org/covid‐19‐european‐dental‐education%E2%80%99s‐immediate‐response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2020, the French President called to war against the COVID‐19 which was followed by the launch of a military operation called Operation Resilience. This use of martial rhetoric initiated an effective mobilisation consisting in logistical assistance to the health sector. While armies are increasingly used to deal with environmental disasters, aside from their traditional role, this paper postulates that the geography of the French and international military engagement can be used to analyse both the institutional strategy of crisis management and the message governments send to their population. Military involvement differs in terms of missions given and of the amount of troops mobilised. It first questions the use of the military in the name of national resilience in the political discourse and the way it displays a symbolic message to the population, before analysing the role of armies in the crisis through the spatiality of their interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]