scholarly journals 1441Indirect effects of COVID-19 in Australia during 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Reynolds ◽  
Lynelle Moon ◽  
Michelle Gourley

Abstract Focus of Presentation COVID-19 is a major health threat that has led to substantial disruption to almost all parts of society worldwide. We brought together available data to assess the impact of the first 12 months of COVID-19 in Australia, examining initial data on the indirect effects of the pandemic on Australian’s health and welfare. Findings During 2020, Australia recorded lower than expected total mortality, in contrast to many other countries where excess mortality (higher than expected deaths) was observed. Age-standardised death rates for influenza and pneumonia, and chronic lower respiratory infections during both waves of COVID-19 cases were lower than in previous years. The initial impacts of the epidemic in Australia appear to have increased levels of psychological distress. However, the number of deaths by suicide in NSW, Victoria and Queensland have remained at similar levels to previous years. Important health behaviours, such as physical activity and alcohol consumption, worsened for some people but improved for others. The travel restrictions appear to have caused a reduction in injuries due to falls and road traffic accidents, particularly during the first lockdown in March-April 2020. Conclusions/Implications Public health measures introduced to control the spread of COVID-19 in Australia had both positive and negative health effects. The impact of these effects will need to be monitored over time. Key messages The indirect effects of COVID-19 in Australia are wide-ranging and include impacts on mental health, health behaviours and deaths from other diseases.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Lin ◽  
Feng Shi ◽  
Weizi Li

AbstractCOVID-19 has affected every sector of our society, among which human mobility is taking a dramatic change due to quarantine and social distancing. We investigate the impact of the pandemic and subsequent mobility changes on road traffic safety. Using traffic accident data from the city of Los Angeles and New York City, we find that the impact is not merely a blunt reduction in traffic and accidents; rather, (1) the proportion of accidents unexpectedly increases for “Hispanic” and “Male” groups; (2) the “hot spots” of accidents have shifted in both time and space and are likely moved from higher-income areas (e.g., Hollywood and Lower Manhattan) to lower-income areas (e.g., southern LA and southern Brooklyn); (3) the severity level of accidents decreases with the number of accidents regardless of transportation modes. Understanding those variations of traffic accidents not only sheds a light on the heterogeneous impact of COVID-19 across demographic and geographic factors, but also helps policymakers and planners design more effective safety policies and interventions during critical conditions such as the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Louis O’Halloran ◽  
Daniel P. Ahern ◽  
Jake M. McDonnell ◽  
Gráinne M. Cunniffe ◽  
Michael K. Dodds ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had profound implications on healthcare institutions. Aims This study aims to assess and compare referral patterns during COVID-19 to corresponding dates for the preceding 3 years (2017–2019), in order to preemptively coordinate the logistics of the surgical unit for similar future experiences. Methods Retrospective review for our institution, a national tertiary referral centre for spine pathology. Two distinct time-points were chosen to represent the varied levels of social restriction during the current pandemic: (i) study period 1 (SP1) from 11 November 2020 to 08 June 2020 represents a national lockdown, and (ii) study period 2 (SP2) from 09 June 2020 to 09 September 2020 indicates an easing of restrictions. Both periods were compared to corresponding dates (CP1: 11 March–08 June and CP2 09 June–09 September) for the preceding 3 years (2017–2019). Data collected included age, gender, and mechanism of injury (MOI) for descriptive analyses. MOIs were categorised into disc disease, cyclist, road-traffic-accident (RTA), falls < 2 m, falls > 2 m, malignancy, sporting injuries, and miscellaneous. Results All MOI categories witnessed a reduction in referral numbers during SP1: disc disease (−29%), cyclist (−5%), RTAs (−66%), falls < 2 m (−39%), falls > 2 m (−17%), malignancy (−33%), sporting injuries (−100%), and miscellaneous (−58%). Four of 8 categories (RTAs, falls < 2 m, malignancy, miscellaneous) showed a trend towards return of pre-lockdown values during SP2. Two categories (disc disease, falls > 2 m) showed a further reduction (−34%, −27%) during SP2. One category (sporting injuries) portrayed a complete return to normal values during SP2 while a notable increase in cyclist-related referrals was witnessed (+ 63%) when compared with corresponding dates of previous years. Conclusion Spinal injury continues to occur across almost all categories, albeit at considerably reduced numbers. RTAs and falls remained the most common MOI. Awareness needs to be drawn to the reduction of malignancy-related referrals to dissuade people with such symptoms from avoiding presentation to hospital over periods of social restrictions.


Author(s):  
Thuso Mphela

Botswana has one of the highest rates of increase in road traffic accidents and fatalities in the world. The amendment of road laws came with stricter penalties for road offences which included higher fines and longer jail terms. This study uses multiple regression analysis subjecting variables to backward stepwise regression with a view to assessing the impact traffic law enforcement has had on fatalities in Botswana after the review of the Traffic Act of Botswana in 2008. The study uses secondary data and interview data obtained from law enforcers. The findings reveal that the enforcement of the new road laws has achieved little in the reduction of fatalities. Increasing the minimum driver licensing age may be a panacea to road accidents. Licensed drivers in the age group 30 to 45 years have the lowest rate of fatalities. The study questions the ability of punitive policies (i.e. road fines) to reduce fatalities. It offers that driver behaviour should be studied to come up with relevant policies.


Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 1548
Author(s):  
Marjana Čubranić-Dobrodolac ◽  
Libor Švadlenka ◽  
Svetlana Čičević ◽  
Aleksandar Trifunović ◽  
Momčilo Dobrodolac

A constantly increasing number of deaths on roads forces analysts to search for models that predict the driver’s propensity for road traffic accidents (RTAs). This paper aims to examine a relationship between the speed and space assessment capabilities of drivers in terms of their association with the occurrence of RTAs. The method used for this purpose is based on the implementation of the interval Type-2 Fuzzy Inference System (T2FIS). The inputs to the first T2FIS relate to the speed assessment capabilities of drivers. These capabilities were measured in the experiment with 178 young drivers, with test speeds of 30, 50, and 70 km/h. The participants assessed the aforementioned speed values from four different observation positions in the driving simulator. On the other hand, the inputs of the second T2FIS are space assessment capabilities. The same group of drivers took two types of space assessment tests—2D and 3D. The third considered T2FIS sublimates of all previously mentioned inputs in one model. The output in all three T2FIS structures is the number of RTAs experienced by a driver. By testing three proposed T2FISs on the empirical data, the result of the research indicates that the space assessment characteristics better explain participation in RTAs compared to the speed assessment capabilities. The results obtained are further confirmed by implementing a multiple regression analysis.


Transport ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 216-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Zanne ◽  
Aleš Groznik

Road traffic accident is an accident on a public road in which at least one moving vehicle has been involved and material damage or injury or death has occurred. Traffic accidents occur for various reasons, with one of them being the transport infrastructure and next the condition of traffic environment. Motorways are considered to be the safest roads, which have initially been planned as dedicated roads intended to be travelled only by personal cars, but the evolution of modal split of freight transport in Europe is causing the heterogeneity of traffic flows on these roads, which consequently affects the traffic safety. The aim of this paper is to explore the effects of changing volume and structure of traffic flows on road safety on Slovenian motorways. After the exhaustive analysis of past data, the paper provides different models for forecasting traffic safety on Slovenian motorways.


Author(s):  
Siddharth Rao P. S. ◽  
Sumayya Nazneen Sayyada ◽  
Souri Reddy Pyreddy

Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a major cause of misery, disability and death globally, with a disproportionate number occurring in developing countries. With COVID-19 reaching pandemic proportion, a nationwide lockdown was announced on 24 March 2020 which resulted in the complete closure vehicular movement. This study aimed to assess the impact of lockdown on the number of RTAs brought to our rural tertiary care teaching hospital situated on National highway number 65.Methods: Medico-legal records were reviewed retrospectively at Kamineni institute of medical sciences hospital. The cases were classified into two groups. The pre-lockdown group included cases reporting to casualty from 1 April 2019 to 31 July 2019. The lockdown group included cases reporting to casualty from 1 April 2020 to 31 July 2020. Patient demographics, type of injury, time of injury, mode of injury were collected for all cases and analysed using simple mathematical tools.Results: There was a significant decrease in the total number of RTAs during lockdown phases 1 and 2 and during unlocking phases 1 and 2 by 52.1%. Bike skid was the most common mode of injury. The highest number of RTAs was observed between 6 am to 6 pm and the most commonly affected gender was male especially in the age group of 15-45 years.Conclusions: RTA numbers can be reduced by strict implementation of traffic rules and better road infrastructure. One positive effect of the measures implemented to control the spread of COVID-19 was the reduction of traffic accidents and mass casualties.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Rudi Hendri Basuki ◽  
Umar Ma�ruf

This study aims to determine how is the implementation of the action by infringing traffic by a speeding ticket in the jurisdiction of Police in Semarang; How can the impact of infringing on a traffic enforcement with a ticket to the number of traffic accidents in the jurisdiction of Police in Semarang; and What constraints in action by infringing traffic by a speeding ticket in the jurisdiction of Semarang Police and how the solutions to overcome them.The method used by the author in this study is juridical empirical or sociological jurisdiction. Specifications of research used is descriptive analyticalBased on research conducted can be concluded that 1) Implementation of Traffic Violations Enforcement accordance with Government Regulation on Infringement Ticketing Act No. 80 Of 2012 on Procedures for� Vehicle Inspection and Enforcement Violations On the Road Traffic and Transportation Article 3, which reads� Vehicle Inspection; 2) The results in January to September 2018 is known that the impact of a speeding ticket to a very significant definitely one transport accident means the higher the number the lower the accident rate speeding ticket, speeding ticket conversely the lower the number the higher the number of accidents; and 3) Constraints in the prosecution of traffic violations by a speeding ticket in the jurisdiction of Semarang Police isThe lack of legal awareness in the society, lack of ability by the Police Authority problematic legislation, the lack of infrastructure to supportKeywords: Impact; Infringement; Traffic; Infringement Ticketing; Accident.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Marcelo Leveau ◽  
José A. Tapia Granados ◽  
Maria Izabel Dos Santos ◽  
Marianela Castillo-Riquelme ◽  
Marcio Alazraqui

Objective: To analyze the relationship between economic conditions and mortality in cities of Latin America.Methods: We analyzed data from 340 urban areas in ten countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and El Salvador. We used panel models adjusted for space‐invariant and time‐invariant factors to examine whether changes in area gross domestic product (GDP) per capita were associated with changes in mortality.Results: We find procyclical oscillations in mortality (i.e., higher mortality with higher GDP per capita) for total mortality, female population, populations of 0–9 and 45+ years, mortality due to cardiovascular diseases, malignant neoplasms, diabetes mellitus, respiratory infections and road traffic injuries. Homicides appear countercyclical, with higher levels at lower GDP per capita.Conclusions: Our results reveal large heterogeneity, but in our sample of cities, for specific population groups and causes of death, mortality oscillates procyclically, increasing when GDP per capita increases. In contrast we find few instances of countercyclical mortality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 127-132
Author(s):  
V.V. Shapovalov (Jr.) ◽  
V.A. Shapovalova ◽  
V.V. Shapovalov

Background. Around the world, drug-related road traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of injury and death among road users. Traffic safety is a system that includes the following components: a person – a person's health condition – the use of dangerous drugs of different classification and legal groups – adverse drug reactions – a vehicle – a road. The share of road traffic accidents under the influence of drugs is more than 75 %, they are also the most socially dangerous, because they have grave consequences, cause irreparable harm to the health and death of the victims. The purpose of the study was to analyze the achievements of forensic and pharmaceutical researches in Ukraine on the impact of drugs on the safety, life and health of road users within the framework of the organization of pharmaceutical business, drug technology, pharmaceutical and medical law in a retrospective aspect. Materials and methods. The materials of the imperative research were legislative, regulatory and legal documents; materials of the formation of the scientific school of forensic pharmacy; scientific publications on the topic of the article; Internet resources, sources of scientific literature. To achieve the set goals, the methods of forensic and pharmaceutical, regulatory, documentary, bibliographic, comparative, historical and graphic analysis were used. Results. The experience of the countries of the world in the prophylaxis and prevention of road traffic accidents under the influence of drugs was analyzed. The causes and conditions for the occurrence and consequences of road traffic accidents are multifactorial in nature and are associated with the victims (driver - pedestrian), vehicle, road conditions, and the use of psychoactive drugs. A system of organizational, regulatory and preventive measures has been developed to provide first medical aid to victims of a road traffic accident. Shown that there is a need for scientifically grounded organizational and legal, clinical and pharmacological, forensic pharmaceutical and socio-economic studies on causal relationships between adverse reactions due to the use of drugs of various classification and legal groups, traffic safety and road traffic accidents. For the first time in Ukraine, a mathematical model was proposed to establish the effect of psychoactive drugs on the driver's condition when driving a vehicle, depending on the calculation of the stopping path of the car in accordance with the selected speed and a decrease in the driver's response. The structure of road traffic accidents under the influence of psychoactive drugs has been investigated. Conclusions. A classification of first-aid kits for providing first medical aid to victims of road traffic accidents was proposed, which made it possible to substantiate the need to improve them both in qualitative and quantitative composition, depending on the type of vehicle and the likelihood of an accident with serious consequences. Recommendations were proposed for providing information on the possibility of obtaining medical care and the signal-calling system on the roads, marking the packages of psychoactive drugs with a special mark in the form of a red triangle. The need for further forensic pharmaceutical research has been proven.


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