scholarly journals Surveillance of COVID-19 Using Geospatial Data: An Emergency Department Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
S. Ashok ◽  
Malik Zaka Ullah ◽  
Nandakumar Vadivelu ◽  
Mohammed Tariqul Islam ◽  
Safa Nasereddin ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The outbreak of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) which emerged in December 2019 spread rapidly and created a public health emergency. Geospatial records of case data are needed in real time to monitor and anticipate the spread of infection. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This study aimed to identify the emerging hotspots of COVID-19 using a geographic information system (GIS)-based approach. Data of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients from March 15 to June 12, 2020, who visited the emergency department of a tertiary specialized academic hospital in Dubai were evaluated using ArcGIS Pro 2.5. Spatiotemporal analysis, including optimized hotspot analysis, was performed at the community level. <b><i>Results:</i></b> The cases were spatially concentrated mostly over the inner city of Dubai. Moreover, the optimized hotspot analysis showed statistically significant hotspots (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.01) in the north of Dubai. Waxing and waning hotspots were also observed in the southern and central regions of Dubai. Finally, there were nonsustaining hotspots in communities with a very low population density. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> This study identified hotspots of COVID-19 using geospatial analysis. It is simple and can be easily reproduced to identify disease outbreaks. In the future, more attention is needed in creating a wider geodatabase and identifying hotspots with more intense transmission intensity.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 133
Author(s):  
Purwanto Purwanto ◽  
Sugeng Utaya ◽  
Budi Handoyo ◽  
Syamsul Bachri ◽  
Ike Sari Astuti ◽  
...  

In this research, we analyzed COVID-19 distribution patterns based on hotspots and space–time cubes (STC) in East Java, Indonesia. The data were collected based on the East Java COVID-19 Radar report results from a four-month period, namely March, April, May, and June 2020. Hour, day, and date information were used as the basis of the analysis. We used two spatial analysis models: the emerging hotspot analysis and STC. Both techniques allow us to identify the hotspot cluster temporally. Three-dimensional visualizations can be used to determine the direction of spread of COVID-19 hotspots. The results showed that the spread of COVID-19 throughout East Java was centered in Surabaya, then mostly spread towards suburban areas and other cities. An emerging hotspot analysis was carried out to identify the patterns of COVID-19 hotspots in each bin. Both cities featured oscillating patterns and sporadic hotspots that accumulated over four months. This pattern indicates that newly infected patients always follow the recovery of previous COVID-19 patients and that the increase in the number of positive patients is higher when compared to patients who recover. The monthly hotspot analysis results yielded detailed COVID-19 spatiotemporal information and facilitated more in-depth analysis of events and policies in each location/time bin. The COVID-19 hotspot pattern in East Java, visually speaking, has an amoeba-like pattern. Many positive cases tend to be close to the city, in places with high road density, near trade and business facilities, financial storage, transportation, entertainment, and food venues. Determining the spatial and temporal resolution for the STC model is crucial because it affects the level of detail for the information of endemic disease distribution and is important for the emerging hotspot analysis results. We believe that similar research is still rare in Indonesia, although it has been done elsewhere, in different contexts and focuses.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Poletto ◽  
G Perri ◽  
F Malacarne ◽  
B Bianchet ◽  
A Doimo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was discovered during the 2019 outbreak in Mainland China and the first cases were reported in Italy on February 21, 2020. This study evaluates the emergency department (ED) attendances of an academic hospital in northern Italy before and after media reported the news of the first infected patients in Italy. Methods Adult attendances in ED in February 2020 were analysed dividing the period into 4 weeks (days 1-7, 8-14, 15-21, 22-28) compared with the same periods in 2019. The visits were analysed separately according to the Italian colour code of triage: white (non-critical), green (low-critical), yellow (medium critical), red (life-threatening). The mean weekly number of attendances was compared with t-test. Results February 2020 total ED attendances compared with February 2019 were 4865 vs 5029 (-3.3%), of which white codes were 834 vs 762 (+9.4%), green 2450 vs 2580 (-5.0%), yellow 1427 vs 1536 (-7.1%), red 154 vs 151 (+2.0%). February 2020 weekly mean ED attendances compared with February 2019 had statistically significant difference only in the fourth week (days 22-28) for green codes (75 vs 92, p = 0.007) and yellow codes (41 vs 52, p = 0.047), not for white (27 vs 26, p = 0.760) and red codes (5 vs 5, p = 0.817). The first three weeks of February 2020 compared with 2019 showed no statistically significant difference in weekly mean ED attendances. Conclusions There was a significant reduction of green and yellow codes attendances at ED in the fourth week of February 2020, corresponding to the initial phase of Italian COVID-19 outbreak. The fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2 by attending the ED probably acted as a significant deterrent in visits, especially for low and medium critical patients. Additional data are required to better understand the phenomenon, including the behaviour of non-critical attendances. Key messages A reduction of green and yellow codes attendances was reported during initial phase of COVID-19 outbreak in an Italian academic hospital. Fear of contracting COVID-19 infection in a hospital setting could impact on emergency department attendances.


Author(s):  
Ivan V. ZYKIN

During the years of Soviet power, principal changes took place in the country’s wood industry, including in spatial layout development. Having the large-scale crisis in the industry in the late 1980s — 2000s and the positive changes in its functioning in recent years and the development of an industry strategy, it becomes relevant to analyze the experience of planning the spatial layout of the wood industry during the period of Stalin’s modernization, particularly during the first five-year plan. The aim of the article is to analyze the reason behind spatial layout of the Soviet wood industry during the implementation of the first five-year plan. The study is based on the modernization concept. In our research we conducted mapping of the wood industry by region as well as of planned construction of the industry facilities. It was revealed that the discussion and development of an industrialization project by the Soviet Union party-state and planning agencies in the second half of the 1920s led to increased attention to the wood industry. The sector, which enterprises were concentrated mainly in the north-west, west and central regions of the country, was set the task of increasing the volume of harvesting, export of wood and production to meet the domestic needs and the export needs of wood resources and materials. Due to weak level of development of the wood industry, the scale of these tasks required restructuring of the branch, its inclusion to the centralized economic system, the direction of large capital investments to the development of new forest areas and the construction of enterprises. It was concluded that according to the first five-year plan, the priority principles for the spatial development of the wood industry were the approach of production to forests and seaports, intrasectoral and intersectoral combining. The framework of the industry was meant to strengthen and expand by including forests to the economic turnover and building new enterprises in the European North and the Urals, where the main capital investments were sent, as well as in the Vyatka region, Transcaucasia, Siberia and the Far East.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy A Ernst ◽  
Eduardo Marvez ◽  
Todd G. Nick ◽  
Eric Chin ◽  
Edmond Wood ◽  
...  

Study objective. The purpose of the present study is to compare LAT gel (4% lidocaine, 1:2000 adrenaline, 0.5% tetracaine) to TAC gel (0.5% tetracaine, 1:2000 adrenaline, 11.8% cocaine) for efficacy, side effects, and costs in children aged 5 to 17 years with facial or scalp lacerations. Design. Randomized, prospective, double-blinded clinical trial. Setting. Inner-city Emergency Department with an Emergency Medicine residency program. Patients or other participants. Children aged 5 to 17 years with linear lacerations of the face or scalp. Intervention. After informed consent was obtained patients had lacerations anesthetized with topical TAC or LAT gel according to a random numbers table. Measurements and main results. A total of 95 patients were included in the statistical analysis with 47 receiving TAC and 48 receiving LAT. Physicians and patients/parents separately rated the overall pain of suturing using a modified multidimensional scale for pain assessment specifically for children. Patients/parents also stated the number of sutures causing pain. The power of the study to determine a ranked sum difference of 15 was 0.8. Multidimensional rating scale results and number and percentage of sutures causing pain were compared using Wilcoxon's rank sum test. According to patients no difference could be detected in percent of sutures causing pain in the LAT versus TAC group (P = .51). Using the multidimensional scale, physicians and patients/parents found LAT statistically the same as TAC in effectiveness (P = .80 for physicians and P = .71 for patients). Cost per application was $3.00 for LAT compared to $35.00 for TAC. Follow-up was accomplished in 85 of 95 participants in the study with no reported complications for either medication. Conclusion. LAT gel worked as well as TAC gel for topical anesthesia in facial and scalp lacerations. Considering the advantages of a noncontrolled substance and less expense, LAT gel appears to be better suited than TAC gel for topical anesthesia in laceration repair in children.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. H. Akerman ◽  
Richard Sinert

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