scholarly journals Portrait of the Impact of the Implementation of Large-Scale Social Distancing during Covid-19 Pandemic towards Women and Marginalized Groups through the Perspective of Intersectional Feminism..

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 295
Author(s):  
Atnike Nova Sigiro ◽  
Abby Gina ◽  
Dewi Komalasari ◽  
Andi Misbahul Pratiwi

<p>Pembatasan jarak sosial (<em>social distancing</em>) adalah salah satu bentuk kebijakan untuk mencegah penyebaran virus Corona di tengah pandemi Covid-19, yang dijalankan oleh berbagai negara. Di Indonesia, kebijakan pembatasan jarak sosial ini diberi nama Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar (PSBB). Dengan penerapan PSBB maka sejumlah besar kegiatan di ruang publik harus ditutup dan/atau dibatasi. Sementara itu, sebagian besar aktivitas masyarakat, seperti bersekolah dan bekerja, harus dilakukan jarak jauh atau dilakukan di rumah. Penerapan pembatasan jarak sosial tersebut menyebabkan bertambhanya kegiatan rumah tangga, dan hal ini memperbesar tanggung jawab perempuan dalam kerja-kerja perawatan (<em>care work</em>) dan kerja rumah tangga (<em>house work</em>) di ranah domestik. Melalui kacamata feminisme interseksional, artikel ini mencoba memaparkan dampak penerapan pembatasan jarak sosial di Indonesia di ranah domestik terhadap perempuan dan kelompok marginal. Artikel ini menemukan bahwa berbagai ketimpangan seperti ketimpangan gender, ketimpangan kelas, dan ketimpangan sosial yang selama ini dialami oleh perempuan dan kelompok marginal di dalam tulisan ini telah memperburuk situasi mereka di saat penerapan pembatasan jarak sosial dilakukan.</p>

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Cacciapaglia ◽  
Francesco Sannino

Abstract One of the biggest threats to humanity are pandemics. In our global society they can rage around the world with an immense toll in terms of human, economic and social impact. Forecasting the spreading of a pandemic is, therefore, paramount in helping governments to enforce a number of social and economic measures, apt at curbing the pandemic and dealing with its aftermath. We demonstrate that the epidemic renormalisation group approach to pandemics provides an effective and simple way to investigate the dynamics of disease transmission and spreading across different regions of the world. The framework also allows for reliable projections on the impact of travel limitations and social distancing measures on global epidemic spread. We test and calibrate it on reported COVID-19 cases while unveiling the mechanism that governs the delay in the relative peaks of newly infected cases among different regions of the globe. We discover that social distancing measures are more effective than travel limitations across borders in delaying the epidemic peak. We further provide the link to compartmental models such as the time-honoured SIR-like models. We also show how to generalise the framework to account for the interactions across several regions of the world, replacing or complementing large scale simulations.


Author(s):  
Weihsueh A. Chiu ◽  
Rebecca Fischer ◽  
Martial L. Ndeffo-Mbah

Abstract Starting in mid-May 2020, many US states began relaxing social distancing measures that were put in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. To evaluate the impact of relaxation of restrictions on COVID-19 dynamics and control, we developed a transmission dynamic model and calibrated it to US state-level COVID-19 cases and deaths. We used this model to evaluate the impact of social distancing, testing and contact tracing on the COVID-19 epidemic in each state. As of July 22, 2020, we found only three states were on track to curtail their epidemic curve. Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia may have to double their testing and/or tracing rates and/or rolling back reopening by 25%, while eight states require an even greater measure of combined testing, tracing, and distancing. Increased testing and contact tracing capacity is paramount for mitigating the recent large-scale increases in U.S. cases and deaths.


Author(s):  
Manuel Vogt

This chapter analyzes the impact of, and obstacles to, ethnic mobilization in Guatemala and Ecuador. Using evidence from in-depth interviews with leaders of ethnic organizations, state officials, political party leaders, and other elite individuals, it sheds light on the causal path between ethnic group mobilization, inclusion, and contention in the stratified societies of Latin America’s colonial settler states. Specifically, the within-country comparison of Afro-Ecuadorian and indigenous mobilization in Ecuador demonstrates the importance of autonomous ethnic organizations for the prospects of marginalized groups’ political empowerment. Their infrastructural power facilitates the aggregation of the interests of discriminated individuals into ethnopolitical movements and enables groups to carry out large-scale popular protests. However, the evidence from the Guatemalan case also uncovers the strategies employed by state elites from the dominant ethnoclass to block fundamental change and maintain the status quo.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weihsueh A. Chiu ◽  
Rebecca Fischer ◽  
Martial L. Ndeffo-Mbah

Abstract Social distancing measures have been implemented in the United States (US) since March 2020, to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. However, by mid-May most states began relaxing these measures to support the resumption of economic activity, even as disease incidence continued to increase in many states. To evaluate the impact of relaxing social distancing restrictions on COVID-19 dynamics and control in the US, we developed a transmission dynamic model and calibrated it to US state-level COVID-19 cases and deaths from March to June 20th, 2020, using Bayesian methods. We used this model to evaluate the impact of reopening, social distancing, testing, contact tracing, and case isolation on the COVID-19 epidemic in each state. We found that using stay-at-home orders, most states were able to curtail their COVID-19 epidemic curve by reducing and achieving an effective reproductive number below 1. But by June 20th, 2020, only 19 states and the District of Columbia were on track to curtail their epidemic curve with a 75% confidence, at current levels of reopening. Of the remaining 31 states, 24 may have to double their current testing and/or contact tracing rate to curtail their epidemic curve, and seven need to further restrict social contact by 25% in addition to doubling their testing and contact tracing rates. When social distancing restrictions are being eased, greater state-level testing and contact tracing capacity remains paramount for mitigating the risk of large-scale increases in cases and deaths.


Author(s):  
Ido Somekh ◽  
Tamy Shohat ◽  
Lital Keinan Boker ◽  
Eric A F Simões ◽  
Eli Somekh

Abstract Background The benefits of school reopening must be weighed against the morbidity and mortality risks and the impact of enhancing spread of COVID-19. We investigated the effects of school reopening and easing of social distancing restrictions on the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 infections in Israel, between March-July 2020. Methods We examined the nationwide agewise weekly incidence, prevalence, SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests, their positivity, COVID-19 hospitalizations and associated mortality. Temporal differences in these parameters following school reopening, school ending, and following easing of restrictions such as permission of large scale gatherings, were examined. Results The incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections gradually increased following school reopening in all age groups, with a significantly higher increase in adults compared to children. Higher relative ratios (RRs) of sample positivity rates 21-27 days following school reopening relative to positivity rates prior to openings were found for the age groups 40-59 (RR: 4.72, 95% CI: 3.26 - 6.83) and 20-39 years (RR: 3.37 [2.51 - 4.53]), but not for children aged 0-9 (RR: 1.46 [0.85 - 2.51]) and 10-19 years (RR: 0.93 [0.65 - 1.34]). No increase was observed in COVID-19 associated hospitalizations and deaths following school reopening. In contrast, permission of large-scale gatherings was accompanied by increases in incidence and positivity rates of samples for all age groups, and increased hospitalizations and mortality. Conclusions This analysis does not support a major role of school reopening in the resurgence of the COVID-19 curve in Israel. Easing restrictions on large scale gatherings was the major influence on this resurgence.


Author(s):  
M. Ammar Luthfi Kurniawan ◽  
Litania Leona Hidayat ◽  
Jihan Natra Shafira ◽  
Iche Andriyani Liberty

Social distancing includes strategies to ban public gatherings and advise individuals to stay at their home or maintain distance to one another by at least 1-2 meters. This study aims to intend to assess all the available evidence of social distancing in decreasing COVID-19 transmission in the general population. We conducted an electronic search of published literature using MEDLINE/Pubmed, Science direct, PMC, Wiley, and Google Scholar and we use Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist to assess methodological qualities. A total of 7 articles were decided to be included in this study. Social distancing has curb down the number and saved approximately 10 thousand Brazilian lives. A study by VoPham et al on the association of social distancing and COVID-19 incidence found higher social distancing was associated with a 29% reduction of COVID-19 incidence (adjusted IRR 0.71;95% CI (0,57-0,87) and 35% reduction of COVID-19 mortality (adjusted IRR 0,65; 95% CI 0,55-0,76). Social distancing is one of the major policies implemented for long-term behavioral adjustment in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Passive social distancing is not enough to drag down the number, there needs to be large scale testing, isolation, and contact tracing. However, we believe we have illuminated the impact of social distancing on the COVID-19 pandemic and add to the available literature the basis of social distancing in reducing transmission of COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths ◽  
Cliff Kerr ◽  
Robyn Margaret Stuart ◽  
Dina Mistry ◽  
Daniel Klein ◽  
...  

Background In order to slow down the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government has imposed strict physical distancing (lockdown) measures including school 'dismissals' since 23 March 2020. As evidence is emerging that these measures may have slowed the spread of the pandemic, it is important to assess the impact of any changes in strategy, including scenarios for school reopening and broader relaxation of social distancing. This work uses an individual-based model to predict the impact of a suite of possible strategies to reopen schools in the UK, including that currently proposed by the UK government. Methods We use Covasim, a stochastic agent-based model for transmission of COVID-19, calibrated to the UK epidemic. The model describes individuals' contact networks stratified as household, school, work and community layers, and uses demographic and epidemiological data from the UK. We simulate a range of different school reopening strategies with a society-wide relaxation of lockdown measures and in the presence of different non-pharmaceutical interventions, to estimate the number of new infections, cumulative cases and deaths, as well as the effective reproduction number with different strategies. To account for uncertainties within the stochastic simulation, we also simulated different levels of infectiousness of children and young adults under 20 years old compared to older ages. Findings We found that with increased levels of testing of people (between 25% and 72% of symptomatic people tested at some point during an active COVID-19 infection depending on scenarios) and effective contact-tracing and isolation for infected individuals, an epidemic rebound may be prevented across all reopening scenarios, with the effective reproduction number (R) remaining below one and the cumulative number of new infections and deaths significantly lower than they would be if testing did not increase. If UK schools reopen in phases from June 2020, prevention of a second wave would require testing 51% of symptomatic infections, tracing of 40% of their contacts, and isolation of symptomatic and diagnosed cases. However, without such measures, reopening of schools together with gradual relaxing of the lockdown measures are likely to induce a secondary pandemic wave, as are other scenarios for reopening. When infectiousness of <20 year olds was varied from 100% to 50% of that of older ages, our findings remained unchanged. Interpretation To prevent a secondary COVID-19 wave, relaxation of social distancing including reopening schools in the UK must be implemented alongside an active large-scale population-wide testing of symptomatic individuals and effective tracing of their contacts, followed by isolation of symptomatic and diagnosed individuals. Such combined measures have a greater likelihood of controlling the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and preventing a large number of COVID-19 deaths than reopening schools and society with the current level of implementation of testing and isolation of infected individuals.


Author(s):  
Edwin van Leeuwen ◽  
Frank Sandmann ◽  

AbstractBackgroundSocial distancing is an important public health intervention to reduce or interrupt the sustained community transmission of emerging infectious pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2 during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to explore the impact on the epidemic curve of fewer contacts when individuals reduce the time they spend on selected daily activities.MethodsWe combined 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+) and daily activity (work, schooling, transportation, and four leisure activities: social visits, bar/cafe/restaurant visits, park visits, and non-essential shopping). We assumed that reductions in time are proportional to reductions in contacts. The derived matrices were then applied in an age-structured dynamic-transmission model of COVID-19 to explore the effects.FindingsThe relative reductions in the derived contact matrices were highest when closing schools (in ages 0-14 years), workplaces (15-64 years), and stopping social visits (65+ years). For COVID-19, the closure of workplaces, schools, and stopping social visits had the largest impact on reducing the epidemic curve and delaying its peak, while the predicted impact of fewer contacts in parks, bars/cafes/restaurants, and non-essential shopping were minimal.InterpretationWe successfully augmented contact matrices with time-use data to predict the highest impact of social distancing measures from reduced contacts when spending less time at work, school, and on social visits. Although the predicted impact from other leisure activities with potential for close physical contact were minimal, changes in mixing patterns and time-use immediately after re-allowing social activities may pose increased short-term transmission risks, especially in potentially crowded environments indoors.Research in contextEvidence before this studyWe searched PubMed for mathematical models using social contact matrices and time-use data to explore the impact of reduced social contacts as seen from social distancing measures adopted during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the search string ((social OR physical) AND distancing) OR (contact* OR (contact matri*)) AND (time-use) AND (model OR models OR modeling OR modelling) from inception to May 06, 2020, with no language restrictions. We found several studies that used time-use data to re-create contact matrices based on time spent in similar locations or to calculate the length of exposure. We identified no study that augmented social contact matrices with time-use data to estimate the impact on transmission dynamics of reducing selected social activities and lifting these restrictions again, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.Added value of this studyOur study combines the empirical data of two large-scale, representative surveys to derive social contact matrices that enrich the frequency of contacts with the duration of exposure for selected social activities, which allows for more fine-grained mixing patterns and infectious disease modelling. We successfully applied the resulting matrices to estimate reductions in contacts from social distancing measures such as adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the effect on the epidemic curve from increased social contacts when lifting such restrictions again.Implications of all the available evidenceSocial distancing measures are an important public health intervention to limit the close-contact transmission of emerging infectious pathogens by reducing the social mixing of individuals. Our model findings suggest a higher fraction of close-contact transmission occurs at work, schools, and social visits than from visits to parks, bars/cafes/restaurants, and non-essential shopping. The minimal predicted impact is suggestive of lifting the restrictions on certain activities and excluding them from the list of social distancing measures, unless required to maintain sufficient healthcare capacity. However, potential replacement effects of activities and in mixing patterns remain unclear, particularly immediately after re-allowing social activities again.


2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (04) ◽  
pp. 294-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutz S. Freudenberg ◽  
Ulf Dittmer ◽  
Ken Herrmann

Abstract Introduction Preparations of health systems to accommodate large number of severely ill COVID-19 patients in March/April 2020 has a significant impact on nuclear medicine departments. Materials and Methods A web-based questionnaire was designed to differentiate the impact of the pandemic on inpatient and outpatient nuclear medicine operations and on public versus private health systems, respectively. Questions were addressing the following issues: impact on nuclear medicine diagnostics and therapy, use of recommendations, personal protective equipment, and organizational adaptations. The survey was available for 6 days and closed on April 20, 2020. Results 113 complete responses were recorded. Nearly all participants (97 %) report a decline of nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures. The mean reduction in the last three weeks for PET/CT, scintigraphies of bone, myocardium, lung thyroid, sentinel lymph-node are –14.4 %, –47.2 %, –47.5 %, –40.7 %, –58.4 %, and –25.2 % respectively. Furthermore, 76 % of the participants report a reduction in therapies especially for benign thyroid disease (-41.8 %) and radiosynoviorthesis (–53.8 %) while tumor therapies remained mainly stable. 48 % of the participants report a shortage of personal protective equipment. Conclusions Nuclear medicine services are notably reduced 3 weeks after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic reached Germany, Austria and Switzerland on a large scale. We must be aware that the current crisis will also have a significant economic impact on the healthcare system. As the survey cannot adapt to daily dynamic changes in priorities, it serves as a first snapshot requiring follow-up studies and comparisons with other countries and regions.


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