COVID responses will impact Canada provincial politics

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Economic Disparities ◽  
Fiscal Transfers ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Provincial Politics

Significance Although the pandemic is beginning to recede in much of Canada, the federal and provincial governments are preparing for the onset of winter and its likely impact on case counts and public health measures. They must also assess the changes that COVID-19 has made to the economic, political and social landscape of the country. Impacts Social and economic disparities between those who are vaccinated and those who are not will become more pronounced. Washington’s delay in opening its borders to vaccinated Canadians will add to underlying bilateral tensions. Greater federal fiscal transfers to the provinces for healthcare next year will ease some of the federal-provincial tensions. Governments in Western Canada look vulnerable when facing the electorate amid criticism of their handling of the pandemic.

scholarly journals Co-operation and consistency: a global survey of professionals involved in reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola J. Gray ◽  
Didier Jourdan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Professionals ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Global North ◽  
Initial Interviews ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

PurposeDuring the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, schools closed in haste and were expected to create virtual learning opportunities for their students while they waited to see when and how they might re-open. National governments issued reopening guidance at varying speeds. The purpose of this study was to invite health and education professionals to share what was happening in their country about school reopening in terms of the features and implications of the guidance issued.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study. Initial interviews informed a semi-structured questionnaire distributed through the global community of UNESCO Chair ‘Global Health and Education’ and partner organisations. Its aim was to collect, analyse and share globally relevant knowledge and practices about school reopening.FindingsThere were 192 useable responses from 43 countries and territories and 1 multi-country region. 20 of these, mainly in the Global North, had received reopening guidance, 23 were still waiting and 1 had not closed its schools. Guidance prioritised public health measures like social distancing, with less emphasis on education impacts. Success came from partnerships between schools, families and local authorities, consistent guidance and enough time and resources for implementation. Fear of infection led to significant absenteeism among students and staff. Respondents waiting for guidance, mainly in the Global South, shared similar concerns and expectations.Originality/valueDescribing first-hand practices and perspectives of health and education professionals from diverse countries and territories about reopening schools.

Prospects for US politics in 2021

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
At Home

Significance At home, his administration will focus on economic revival and reform, and on COVID-19 public health measures. In foreign affairs, Biden’s team will focus on rebuilding US alliances and cooperation, while promoting human rights and climate action.

scholarly journals Shifting patterns of emergency incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic in the City of Vaughan, Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano O. Solis ◽  
Janithra Wimaladasa ◽  
Ali Asgary ◽  
Maryam Shafiei Sabet ◽  
Michael Ing
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Fire Department ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rescue Service ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The City

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has changed many facets of urban life and operations, including emergency incidents. This study examines how COVID-19 has brought about changes in, and shifting patterns of, emergency incidents in the City of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. This study aims to derive insights that could potentially inform planning and decision-making of fire and rescue service operations as further stages of the pandemic unfold.Design/methodology/approachStandard temporal analysis methods are applied to investigate the changes in the number and nature of emergency incidents, as recorded sequentially in the city's fire and rescue service incident report database, through various phases or waves of the pandemic and the associated public health measures that have been introduced.FindingsThe study analyses show a decrease in the number of emergency calls compared to previous reference years. Vehicle-related incidents show the highest decline, and changes in daily and hourly pattens are consistent with public health measures in place during each stage of the pandemic. The study concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on demand for emergency services provided by the fire department.Originality/valueThe authors believe this is the first study applying temporal analysis on a city's emergency incident response data spanning various phases/waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis may be replicated for other municipal fire services, which can generate further insights that may apply to specific local conditions and states of the pandemic.

COVID-19 cases are likely to surge in winter

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Immune Status ◽  
Respiratory Viruses ◽  
The Political ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Management ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Political Stance

Significance Viruses, however, survive better in the environment during winter and respiratory viruses transmit more readily during a colder, drier season. While some countries experienced the peak of the pandemic around April, others are now accelerating, irrespective of weather. This points to public health measures remaining central to management of COVID-19, especially in the complex interplay with other winter pathogens. Impacts Coming months will reveal more data on immune status of affected individuals and likelihood of reinfection. Initial data from advanced vaccine clinical trials will become available towards November-December. The political stance on public health will remain the biggest driver of reform in global management of this and future epidemics.

Pandemic Disease, Public Health, and Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 796-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Smith ◽  
Ross Upshur
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Ethical Frameworks ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Face ◽  
Conducting Research

Infectious disease pandemics raise significant and novel ethical challenges to the organization and practice of public health. This chapter provides an overview of the salient ethical issues involved in preparing for and responding to pandemic disease, including those arising from deploying restrictive public health measures to contain and curb the spread of disease (e.g., isolation and quarantine), setting priorities for the allocation of scarce resources, health care workers’ duty to care in the face of heightened risk of infection, conducting research during pandemics, and the global governance of preventing and responding to pandemic disease. It also outlines ethical guidance from prominent ethical frameworks that have been developed to address these ethical issues and concludes by discussing some pressing challenges that must be addressed if ethical reflection is to make a meaningful difference in pandemic preparedness and response.

Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Frischhut
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
And Control

This chapter discusses the most important features of EU law on infectious diseases. Communicable diseases not only cross borders, they also often require measures that cross different areas of policy because of different vectors for disease transmission. The relevant EU law cannot be attributed to one sectoral policy only, and thus various EU agencies participate in protecting public health. The key agency is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Other important agencies include the European Environment Agency; European Food Safety Authority; and the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency. However, while integration at the EU level has facilitated protection of the public's health, it also has created potential conflicts among the different objectives of the European Union. The internal market promotes the free movement of products, but public health measures can require restrictions of trade. Other conflicts can arise if protective public health measures conflict with individual human rights. The chapter then considers risk assessment and the different tools of risk management used in dealing with the challenges of infectious diseases. It also turns to the external and ethical perspective and the role the European Union takes in global health.

scholarly journals Expanding U.S. Laboratory Capacity for Neisseria gonorrhoeae Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing and Whole-Genome Sequencing through the CDC's Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen N. Kersh ◽  
Cau D. Pham ◽  
John R. Papp ◽  
Robert Myers ◽  
Richard Steece ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Neisseria Gonorrhoeae ◽  
Whole Genome Sequencing ◽  
Genome Sequencing ◽  
Antimicrobial Susceptibility ◽  
Susceptibility Testing ◽  
Whole Genome ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Laboratory Capacity

ABSTRACT U.S. gonorrhea rates are rising, and antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (AR-Ng) is an urgent public health threat. Since implementation of nucleic acid amplification tests for N. gonorrhoeae identification, the capacity for culturing N. gonorrhoeae in the United States has declined, along with the ability to perform culture-based antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Yet AST is critical for detecting and monitoring AR-Ng. In 2016, the CDC established the Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network) to shore up the national capacity for detecting several resistance threats including N. gonorrhoeae. AR-Ng testing, a subactivity of the CDC’s AR Lab Network, is performed in a tiered network of approximately 35 local laboratories, four regional laboratories (state public health laboratories in Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington), and the CDC’s national reference laboratory. Local laboratories receive specimens from approximately 60 clinics associated with the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP), enhanced GISP (eGISP), and the program Strengthening the U.S. Response to Resistant Gonorrhea (SURRG). They isolate and ship up to 20,000 isolates to regional laboratories for culture-based agar dilution AST with seven antibiotics and for whole-genome sequencing of up to 5,000 isolates. The CDC further examines concerning isolates and monitors genetic AR markers. During 2017 and 2018, the network tested 8,214 and 8,628 N. gonorrhoeae isolates, respectively, and the CDC received 531 and 646 concerning isolates and 605 and 3,159 sequences, respectively. In summary, the AR Lab Network supported the laboratory capacity for N. gonorrhoeae AST and associated genetic marker detection, expanding preexisting notification and analysis systems for resistance detection. Continued, robust AST and genomic capacity can help inform national public health monitoring and intervention.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in Southeast Asia: Implications for workers and unions

2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110000
Author(s):  
Michele Ford ◽  
Kristy Ward
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
First Year ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Market Effects ◽  
Export Orientation ◽  
Health Measures

The labour market effects in Southeast Asia of the COVID-19 pandemic have attracted considerable analysis from both scholars and practitioners. However, much less attention has been paid to the pandemic’s impact on legal protections for workers’ and unions’ rights, or to what might account for divergent outcomes in this respect in economies that share many characteristics, including a strong export orientation in labour-intensive industries and weak industrial relations institutions. Having described the public health measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19 in Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam, this article analyses governments’ employment-related responses and their impact on workers and unions in the first year of the pandemic. Based on this analysis, we conclude that the disruption caused to these countries’ economies, and societies, served to reproduce existing patterns of state–labour relations rather than overturning them.

scholarly journals Emotional and Mental Wellbeing Following COVID-19 Public Health Measures on People Living With Dementia and Carers

2021 ◽  
pp. 089198872199681
Author(s):  
Kerry Hanna ◽  
Clarissa Giebel ◽  
Hilary Tetlow ◽  
Kym Ward ◽  
Justine Shenton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Social Support Services ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Background: To date, there appears to be no evidence on the longer-term impacts caused by COVID-19 and its related public health restrictions on some of the most vulnerable in our societies. The aim of this research was to explore the change in impact of COVID-19 public health measures on the mental wellbeing of people living with dementia (PLWD) and unpaid carers. Method: Semi-structured, follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with PLWD and unpaid carers between June and July 2020. Participants were asked about their experiences of accessing social support services during the pandemic, and the impact of restrictions on their daily lives. Results: 20 interviews were conducted and thematically analyzed, which produced 3 primary themes concerning emotional responses and impact to mental health and wellbeing during the course of the pandemic: 1) Impact on mental health during lockdown, 2) Changes to mental health following easing of public health, and 3) The long-term effect of public health measures. Conclusions: The findings from this research shed light on the longer-term psychological impacts of the UK Government’s public health measures on PLWD and their carers. The loss of social support services was key in impacting this cohort mentally and emotionally, displaying a need for better psychological support, for both carers and PLWD.

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