scholarly journals Short-term Impact of the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Therapists Providing Massage, Acupressure, Acupuncture, Moxibustion, and Judo Therapy: From Family Income and Expenditure Survey (Flash report)

Author(s):  
Shogo MIYAZAKI
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arindom Chakraborty ◽  
Kalyan Das

ABSTRACTAfter the emergence of the first cases in Wuhan, China, the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection has rapidly spread out to other provinces, neighboring countries and finally has become a global terror. It is indeed a matter of serious concern to study the transmission dynamics of this virus. The potential and severity of an outbreak and providing critical information for identifying the type of disease interventions and intensity can be well understood by the unknown basic reproduction number. A stochastic model can be used to estimate this number with possible safeguard on uncertainties. It is essential to assess how the expensive, resource-intensive measures can contribute to the prevention and control of the 2019-nCoV infection and how long they should be maintained. A short-term forecast of incidences are often of high priority. The challenge is to forecast unseen “future” simulated data for three different scenarios at some time points. We estimate current levels of transmissibility, over variable time points under different levels of interventions and use that to forecast near-future incidence. The forecasted values of incidence can be used for determining the near future mortality also.


Author(s):  
Alberto Aleta ◽  
Qitong Hu ◽  
Jiachen Ye ◽  
Peng Ji ◽  
Yamir Moreno

Two months after it was firstly reported, the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 has already spread worldwide. However, the vast majority of reported infections have occurred in China. To assess the effect of early travel restrictions adopted by the health authorities in China, we have implemented an epidemic metapopulation model that is fed with mobility data corresponding to 2019 and 2020. This allows to compare two radically different scenarios, one with no travel restrictions and another in which mobility is reduced by a travel ban. Our findings indicate that i) travel restrictions are an effective measure in the short term, however, ii) they are ineffective when it comes to completely eliminate the disease. The latter is due to the impossibility of removing the risk of seeding the disease to other regions. Our study also highlights the importance of developing more realistic models of behavioral changes when a disease outbreak is unfolding.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel López ◽  
Alberto Peinado ◽  
Andrés Ortiz

AbstractSince the first case reported of SARS-CoV-2 the end of December 2019 in China, the number of cases quickly climbed following an exponential growth trend, demonstrating that a global pandemic is possible. As of December 3, 2020, the total number of cases reported are around 65,527,000 contagions worldwide, and 1,524,000 deaths affecting 218 countries and territories. In this scenario, Spain is one of the countries that has suffered in a hard way, the ongoing epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, namely COVID-19 disease. In this paper, we present the utilization of phenomenological epidemic models to characterize the two first outbreak waves of COVID-19 in Spain. The study is driven using a two-step phenomenological epidemic approach. First, we use a simple generalized growth model to fit the main parameters at the early epidemic phase; later, we apply our previous finding over a logistic growth model to that characterize both waves completely. The results show that even in the absence of accurate data series, it is possible to characterize the curves of case incidence, and even construct short-term forecast in the near time horizon.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew McMahon ◽  
Nicole C. Robb

Background: The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 disease, has resulted in a global pandemic. Since its emergence in December 2019, the virus has infected millions of people, caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands and resulted in incalculable social and economic damage. Understanding the infectivity and transmission dynamics of the virus is essential for understanding how best to reduce mortality whilst ensuring minimal social restrictions to the lives of the general population. Anecdotal evidence is available, but detailed studies have not yet revealed whether infection with the virus results in immunity. Objective: The objective of the study was to use mathematical modelling to investigate the reinfection frequency of COVID-19. Methods: We have used the SIR (Susceptible, Infected, Recovered) framework and random processing based on empirical SARS-CoV-2 infection and fatality data from different regions to calculate the number of reinfections that would be expected to occur if no immunity to the disease occurred. Results: Our model predicts that cases of reinfection should have been observed by now if primary SARS-CoV-2 infection did not protect from subsequent exposure in the short term, however, no such cases have been documented. Conclusions: This work concludes that infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus provides short-term immunity to reinfection and therefore provides a useful insight for serological testing strategies, lockdown easing and vaccine design.


2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2021-107763
Author(s):  
Nancy S Jecker ◽  
Derrick K S Au

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) first declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic, diverse strategies have emerged to address it. This paper focuses on two leading strategies, elimination and mitigation, and examines their ethical basis. Elimination or ‘Zero-COVID’ dominates policies in Pacific Rim societies. It sets as a goal zero deaths and seeks to contain transmission using stringent short-term lockdowns, followed by strict find, test, trace and isolate methods. Mitigation, which dominates in the US and most European nations, sets targets for community transmission and lifts restrictions once targets are met. This approach takes calculated risks and regards a certain amount of disease and death as ethically justified. Section I examines different societal responses to risk that underlie these different policy approaches. Section II focuses on ethical arguments favouring Zero-COVID and raises health equity objections. Section III proposes a long-term strategy that balances the twin goals of promoting population health and health equity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Fang Shih ◽  
Abram L. Wagner ◽  
Nina B. Masters ◽  
Lisa A. Prosser ◽  
Yihan Lu ◽  
...  

The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine has been accompanied by increased discussion of vaccine hesitancy. However, it is unclear if there are shared patterns between general vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 vaccine rejection, or if these are two different concepts. This study characterized rejection of a hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine, and compared patterns of association between general vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 vaccine rejection. The survey was conducted online March 20-22, 2020. Participants answered questions on vaccine hesitancy and responded if they would accept the vaccine given different safety and effectiveness profiles. We assessed differences in COVID-19 rejection and general vaccine hesitancy through logistic regressions. Among 713 participants, 33.0% were vaccine hesitant, and 18.4% would reject a COVID-19 vaccine. Acceptance varied by effectiveness profile: 10.2% would reject a 95% effective COVID-19 vaccine, but 32.4% would reject a 50% effective vaccine. Those vaccine hesitant were significantly more likely to reject COVID-19 vaccination [odds ratio (OR): 5.56, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.39, 9.11]. In multivariable logistic regression models, there were similar patterns for vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 vaccine rejection by gender, race/ethnicity, family income, and political affiliation. But the direction of association flipped by urbanicity (P=0.0146, with rural dwellers less likely to be COVID-19 vaccine rejecters but more likely to be vaccine hesitant in general), and age (P=0.0037, with fewer pronounced differences across age for COVID-19 vaccine rejection, but a gradient of stronger vaccine hesitancy in general among younger ages). During the COVID-19 epidemic’s early phase, patterns of vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 vaccine rejection were relatively similar. A significant minority would reject a COVID-19 vaccine, especially one with less-than-ideal effectiveness. Preparations for introducing the COVID-19 vaccine should anticipate substantial hesitation and target concerns, especially among younger adults.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Wanjala

Purpose: This paper aims to assess the impact of contemporary Coronavirus Pandemic on tourism and trade with its potential implications on the Kenyan economy. Method: The study considered the cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola epidemics to provide an understanding of the possible impacts that the novel coronavirus pandemic could have on the economy. Results: This study established that the demand and supply shocks of the pandemic will inevitably impact Kenya’s economy specifically, the tourism and trade sectors. The Kenyan government has imposed several measures in an attempt to combat the spread of the coronavirus and cushion the country against a possible economic downturn. The study established that the policies imposed have largely focused on demand shock management. Implications: To effectively minimize the impacts of the pandemic shocks on the economy, it will be prudent for the Kenyan government to design policy responses with a blend of short term and long term orientations. The policies should be multifaceted and their design should involve stakeholders from all the relevant sectors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Debashis Sarkar

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted labour markets globally during 2020. The short-term consequences were sudden and often severe. Millions of people were furloughed or lost jobs, and others rapidly adjusted to working from home as offices closed. Many other workers were deemed essential and continued to work in hospitals and grocery stores, on garbage trucks and in warehouses, yet under new protocols to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.


Author(s):  
Bin Zhao

Background: Since the first appearance of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan in December 2019, it has quickly swept the world and become a major security incident facing humanity today. While the novel coronavirus threatens people's lives and safety, the economies of various countries have also been severely damaged. Due to the epidemic, a large number of enterprises have faced closures, employment has become more difficult, and people's lives have been greatly affected. Therefore, to establish a time series model for Hubei Province, where the novel coronavirus first broke out, and the United States, where the epidemic is most severe, to analyze the spreading trend and short-term forecast of the new coronavirus, which will help countries better understand the development trend of the epidemic and make more adequate preparation and timely intervention and treatment to prevent the further spread of the virus. Methods: For the data collected from Hubei Province, including cumulative diagnoses, cumulative deaths, and cumulative cures, we use SPSS to establish the time series model. Since there is no problem of missing data values, we define days as the time variable, remove outliers, and set the width of the confidence interval to 95% for prediction, then use SPSS's expert modeler to find the best-fit model for each sequence. ACF, PACF graphs of the residuals, and Q-tests are used to determine whether the residuals are white noise sequences and to check whether the model is a suitable model. Holt model is used for the cumulative number of diagnoses, and ARIMA (1,2,0) model is used for cumulative cures and deaths. Similarly, we also collect data for the US, including the cumulative number of diagnoses, cumulative deaths, and cumulative cures. For the three groups mentioned above, ARIMA (2,2,6) model, ARIMA (0,2,0) model, and ARIMA (0,2,1) model is used respectively. Findings: From our modeling of the data, the time series diagrams of the real the fitted data almost overlap, so the fitting effect of the Holt model and the ARIMA model we use is very suitable. We compare the predicted values with the real values of the same period and find that the epidemic situation in Hubei Province has basically ended after May, but the epidemic situation in the United States has become more severe after May, so the Holt model and the ARIMA model are also very appropriate in predicting the epidemic situation in short-term. Interpretation: Because the Chinese government has always put the safety of people’s lives in the first place, when the epidemic broke out, it decisively closed the city of Hubei Province. One side is in trouble, all sides support, they concentrate all resources of whole country to save Hubei Province at the expense of the economy only in order to save more people. Now we can clearly see that the epidemic has been controlled in China and the whole country is developing in a good direction. The situation in the United States, on the other hand, is also influenced by the social environment.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poulami Barman ◽  
Nabarun Deb ◽  
Sumit Mukherjee

The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic has caused widespread socio-economic disruption and, as of 04/07/2020, resulted in more than 72,614 confirmed deaths worldwide. Robust prediction of the trajectory of the death incidence curve is helpful for policy decisions during this ongoing crisis. We propose a non-parametric model to fit the number of daily deaths in a region, which hypothesizes that the death incidence curve will have a convex shape in the beginning, a concave shape near the peak, and a convex shape in the final stage of the death incidence curve after the peak. Using this, we performed robust short-term predictions on phases in five countries worldwide and five US states. Our analysis shows while the five states are all at peaks or past their peaks, US as a country is possibly not at peak yet. Our model can be easily fitted on daily death data from any region.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document