The complication of cyber manhunt: How cyber manhunt further complicated the ethical conflict between breaching the confidentiality and endangering the society in face of the COVID-19 pandemic (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Chang Chen ◽  
Yen-Yuan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Online Activity ◽  
Contact Investigation ◽  
The Impact

UNSTRUCTURED While health care and public health workers are working on measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an unprecedentedly large number of people spending much more time indoors, and relying heavily on the Internet as their lifeline. What has been overlooked is the influence of the increasing online activities on public health issues. In this article, we pointed out how a large-scale online activity called cyber manhunt may threaten to offset the efficacy of contact tracing investigation, a public health intervention considered highly effective in limiting further transmission in the early stage of a highly contagious disease outbreak such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first section, we presented a case to show how personal information obtained from contact investigation and disclosed in part on the media provoked a vehement cyber manhunt. We then discussed the possible reasons why netizens collaborate to reveal anonymized personal information about contact investigation, and specify, from the perspective of public health and public health ethics, four problems of cyber manhunt, including the lack of legitimate public health goals, the concerns about privacy breach, the impact of misinformation, and social inequality. Based on our analysis, we concluded that more moral weight may be given to protecting one's confidentiality, especially in an era with the rapid advance of digital and information technologies.

Hong Kong: The Healthcare Professions and the Outbreak

2021 ◽  
pp. 251-262
Author(s):  
Calvin W.L. Ho ◽  
Daisy Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Healthcare Profession ◽  
Healthcare Professions ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

This chapter studies Hong Kong’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hong Kong’s experience with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 helped to prepare the health system for a pandemic, allowing it to avoid a complete lockdown of the city. Social-distancing measures, aggressive testing, and contact tracing have also been critical in controlling the local transmission of the disease. However, when historians and health policy researchers look back at the early days of the outbreak, they are likely to cite the impact of the five-day strike of healthcare professionals in February 2020 as a critical turning point in Hong Kong’s initially hesitant response. The chapter then focuses on this strike and the role of the healthcare profession in shaping public health policy. It argues that the striking healthcare professionals used their standing in Hong Kong to revive the city’s collective memory of the SARS outbreak, mobilizing public action, and possibly triggering a stronger public health intervention by the government.

scholarly journals Augmenting contact matrices with time-use data for fine-grained intervention modelling of disease dynamics: A modelling analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 096228022110370
Author(s):  
Edwin van Leeuwen ◽  
Frank Sandmann ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Time Use ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Transmission Model ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
The Impact

Social distancing is an important public health intervention to reduce or interrupt the sustained community transmission of emerging infectious pathogens, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Contact matrices are typically used when evaluating such public health interventions to account for the heterogeneity in social mixing of individuals, but the surveys used to obtain the number of contacts often lack detailed information on the time individuals spend on daily activities. The present work addresses this problem by combining the large-scale empirical data of a social contact survey and a time-use survey to estimate contact matrices by age group (0--15, 16--24, 25–44, 45–64, 65+ years) and daily activity (work, schooling, transportation, and four leisure activities: social visits, bar/cafe/restaurant visits, park visits, and non-essential shopping). This augmentation allows exploring the impact of fewer contacts when individuals reduce the time they spend on selected daily activities as well as when lifting such restrictions again. For illustration, the derived matrices were then applied to an age-structured dynamic-transmission model of coronavirus disease 2019. Findings show how contact matrices can be successfully augmented with time-use data to inform the relative reductions in contacts by activity, which allows for more fine-grained mixing patterns and infectious disease modelling.

scholarly journals The minimal COVID-19 vaccination coverage and efficacy to compensate for potential increase of transmission contacts, and increased transmission probability of the emerging strains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biao Tang ◽  
Xue Zhang ◽  
Qian Li ◽  
Nicola Bragazzi ◽  
Dasantila Golemi-Kotra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Vaccine Efficacy ◽  
Attack Rate ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Efficacy Rate ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Mass immunization is a potentially effective approach to finally control the local outbreak and global spread of COVID-19 pandemic. However, it can also lead to undesirable outcomes if mass vaccination results in increased transmission effective contacts and relaxation of other public health interventions due to the perceived immunity from the vaccine. Methods: We designed a mathematical model of COVID-19 transmission dynamics that takes into consideration the epidemiological status, public health intervention status (quarantined/isolated), immunity status of the population, and the strain variations. Comparing the control reproduction numbers and the final epidemic sizes (attack rate) in the cases with and without vaccination, we quantified some key factors determining when vaccination in the population is beneficial for preventing and controlling future outbreaks. Results: Our analyses predicted that there is a critical (minimal) vaccine efficacy rate (or a critical quarantine rate) below which the control reproduction number with vaccination is higher than that without vaccination, and the final attack rate in the population is also higher with the vaccination. We also predicted the worst case scenario occurs when a high vaccine coverage is achieved for a vaccine with lower efficacy rate and when the vaccines increase the transmission efficient contacts.Conclusions: The analyses show that an immunization program with a vaccine efficacy rate below the predicted critical values will not be as effective as simply investing in the contact tracing/quarantine/isolation implementation. We reached similar conclusions by considering the final epidemic size (or attack rates). This research then highlights the importance of monitoring the impact on transmissibility and vaccine efficacy of emerging strains.

scholarly journals Early Epidemiological Evidence of Public Health Value of WA Notify, a Smartphone-based Exposure Notification Tool: Modeling COVID-19 Cases Averted in Washington State

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney Segal ◽  
Zhehao Zhang ◽  
Bryant T Karras ◽  
Debra Revere ◽  
Gregory Zane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Privacy Preservation ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Health Value ◽  
Anonymized Data ◽  
Disparate Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Valuable Role

Background Secure and anonymous smartphone-based exposure notification tools are recently developed public health interventions that aim to reduce COVID-19 transmission and supplement traditional case investigation and contact tracing systems. We assessed the impact of Washington State's exposure notification tool, WA Notify, in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 during its first four months of implementation. Methods Due to the constraints of privacy-preservation and anonymized data, aggregate metrics and disparate data sources were utilized to estimate the number of COVID-19 cases averted based on a modelling approach adapted from Wymant et al (2021) using the following parameters: number of notifications generated; the probability that a notified individual goes on to become a case; expected fraction of transmissions preventable by strict quarantine after notification; actual adherence to quarantine; and expected size of the full transmission chain if a contact had not been notified. Results The model was run on a range of secondary attack rates (5.1%-13.706%) and quarantine effectiveness (53% and 64%). Assuming a 12.085% secondary attack rate and 53% quarantine effectiveness, the model shows that 6240 cases were averted statewide during the first four months of its implementation. Based on an estimated COVID-19 case fatality of 1.4%, WA Notify saved 30-120 lives during the study period. Conclusions These findings demonstrate the potential value of exposure notification tools as a novel public health intervention to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. As new variants emerge and non-essential travel bans are lifted, exposure notification tools may continue to play a valuable role in limiting the spread of COVID-19.

scholarly journals Public Health Workforce Burnout in the COVID-19 Response in the U.S.

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4369
Author(s):  
Kahler W. Stone ◽  
Kristina W. Kintziger ◽  
Meredith A. Jagger ◽  
Jennifer A. Horney
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The U.S

While the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on frontline health care workers have been well described, the effects of the COVID-19 response on the U.S. public health workforce, which has been impacted by the prolonged public health response to the pandemic, has not been adequately characterized. A cross-sectional survey of public health professionals was conducted to assess mental and physical health, risk and protective factors for burnout, and short- and long-term career decisions during the pandemic response. The survey was completed online using the Qualtrics survey platform. Descriptive statistics and prevalence ratios (95% confidence intervals) were calculated. Among responses received from 23 August and 11 September 2020, 66.2% of public health workers reported burnout. Those with more work experience (1–4 vs. <1 years: prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.08−3.36; 5–9 vs. <1 years: PR = 1.89, CI = 1.07−3.34) or working in academic settings (vs. practice: PR = 1.31, CI = 1.08–1.58) were most likely to report burnout. As of September 2020, 23.6% fewer respondents planned to remain in the U.S. public health workforce for three or more years compared to their retrospectively reported January 2020 plans. A large-scale public health emergency response places unsustainable burdens on an already underfunded and understaffed public health workforce. Pandemic-related burnout threatens the U.S. public health workforce’s future when many challenges related to the ongoing COVID-19 response remain unaddressed.

scholarly journals Tuberculosis contact investigation results among paediatric contacts in low-incidence settings in Finland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti Kontturi ◽  
Satu Kekomäki ◽  
Eeva Ruotsalainen ◽  
Eeva Salo
Keyword(s):  
Early Diagnosis ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Index Case ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Sputum Smear ◽  
Endemic Country ◽  
Household Contacts ◽  
Contact Investigation ◽  
Positive Index

AbstractTuberculosis (TB) risk is highest immediately after primary infection, and young children are vulnerable to rapid and severe TB disease. Contact tracing should identify infected children rapidly and simultaneously target resources effectively. We conducted a retrospective review of the paediatric TB contact tracing results in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa from 2012 to 2016 and identified risk factors for TB disease or infection. Altogether, 121 index cases had 526 paediatric contacts of whom 34 were diagnosed with TB disease or infection. The maximum delay until first contact investigation visit among the household contacts under 5 years of age with either TB disease or infection was 7 days. The yield for TB disease or infection was 4.6% and 12.8% for household contacts, 0.5% and 0% for contacts exposed in a congregate setting and 1.4% and 5.0% for other contacts, respectively. Contacts born in a TB endemic country (aOR 3.07, 95% CI 1.10–8.57), with household exposure (aOR 2.96, 95% CI 1.33–6.58) or a sputum smear positive index case (aOR 3.96, 95% CI 1.20–13.03) were more likely to have TB disease or infection.Conclusions: Prompt TB investigations and early diagnosis can be achieved with a well-organised contact tracing structure. The risk for TB infection or disease was higher among contacts with household exposure, a sputum smear positive index case or born in a TB endemic country. Large-scale investigations among children exposed in congregate settings can result in a very low yield and should be cautiously targeted. What is Known:• Vulnerable young children are a high priority in contact tracing and should be evaluated as soon as possible after TB exposure What is New:• Prompt investigations for paediatric TB contacts and early diagnosis of infected children can be achieved with a well-organised contact tracing structure• Large-scale investigations among children exposed in congregate settings can result in a very low yield and should be cautiously targeted

scholarly journals Digital proximity tracing on empirical contact networks for pandemic control

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Cencetti ◽  
G. Santin ◽  
A. Longa ◽  
E. Pigani ◽  
A. Barrat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Contact Data ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDigital contact tracing is a relevant tool to control infectious disease outbreaks, including the COVID-19 epidemic. Early work evaluating digital contact tracing omitted important features and heterogeneities of real-world contact patterns influencing contagion dynamics. We fill this gap with a modeling framework informed by empirical high-resolution contact data to analyze the impact of digital contact tracing in the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate how well contact tracing apps, coupled with the quarantine of identified contacts, can mitigate the spread in real environments. We find that restrictive policies are more effective in containing the epidemic but come at the cost of unnecessary large-scale quarantines. Policy evaluation through their efficiency and cost results in optimized solutions which only consider contacts longer than 15–20 minutes and closer than 2–3 meters to be at risk. Our results show that isolation and tracing can help control re-emerging outbreaks when some conditions are met: (i) a reduction of the reproductive number through masks and physical distance; (ii) a low-delay isolation of infected individuals; (iii) a high compliance. Finally, we observe the inefficacy of a less privacy-preserving tracing involving second order contacts. Our results may inform digital contact tracing efforts currently being implemented across several countries worldwide.

scholarly journals Quantifying the impact of early-stage contact tracing on controlling Ebola diffusion

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1165-1180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narges Montazeri Shahtori ◽  
◽  
Tanvir Ferdousi ◽  
Caterina Scoglio ◽  
Faryad Darabi Sahneh
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Risk assessment at work and prevention strategies on COVID-19 in Italy

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248874
Author(s):  
Sergio Iavicoli ◽  
Fabio Boccuni ◽  
Giuliana Buresti ◽  
Diana Gagliardi ◽  
Benedetta Persechino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Risk Of Infection ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread worldwide, with considerable public health and socio-economic impacts that are seriously affecting health and safety of workers, as well as their employment stability. Italy was the first of many other western countries to implement extended containment measures. Health workers and others employed in essential sectors have continued their activity, reporting high infection rate with many fatalities. The epidemiological trend highlighted the importance of work as a substantial factor to consider both when implementing strategies aimed at containing the pandemic and shaping the lockdown mitigation strategy required for sustained economic recovery. To support the decision-making process, we have developed a strategy to predict the risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2 in the workplace based on the analysis of the working process and proximity between employees; risk of infection connected to the type of activity; involvement of third parties in the working processes and risk of social aggregation. We applied this approach to outline a risk index for each economic activity sector, with different levels of detail, also considering the impact on mobility of the working population. This method was implemented into the national epidemiological surveillance model in order to estimate the impact of re-activation of specific activities on the reproduction number. It has also been adopted by the national scientific committee set up by the Italian Government for action-oriented policy advice on the COVID-19 emergency in the post lockdown phase. This approach may play a key role for public health if associated with measures for risk mitigation in enterprises through strategies of business process re-engineering. Furthermore, it will make a contribution to reconsidering the organization of work, including also innovation and fostering the integration with the national occupational safety and health (OSH) system.

The UK COVID-19 contact tracing app as both an emerging technology and public health intervention: The need to consider promissory discourses

2021 ◽  
pp. 136345932110607
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Samuel ◽  
Rosie Sims
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Health Intervention ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sociology Of Expectations ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Uk

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 contact tracing app was announced to the British public on 12th April 2020. The UK government endorsed the app as a public health intervention that would improve public health, protect the NHS and ‘save lives’. On 5th May 2020 the technology was released for trial on the Isle of Wight. However, the trial was halted in June 2020, reportedly due to technological issues. The app was later remodelled and launched to the public in September 2020. The rapid development, trial and discontinuation of the app over a short period of a few months meant that the mobilisation and effect of the discourses associated with the app could be traced relatively easily. In this paper we aimed to explore how these discourses were constructed in the media, and their effect on actors – in particular, those who developed and those who trialled the app. Promissory discourses were prevalent, the trajectory of which aligned with theories developed in the sociology of expectations. We describe this trajectory, and then interpret its implications in terms of infectious disease public health practices and responsibilities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document