Model-based evaluation of alternative reactive class closure strategies against COVID-19

There are contrasting results concerning the effect of reactive school closure on SARS-CoV-2 transmission. To shed light on this controversy, we developed a data-driven computational model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. We found that by reactively closing classes based on syndromic surveillance, SARS-CoV-2 infections are reduced by no more than 17.3% (95%CI: 8.0–26.8%), due to the low probability of timely identification of infections in the young population. We thus investigated an alternative triggering mechanism based on repeated screening of students using antigen tests. Depending on the contribution of schools to transmission, this strategy can greatly reduce COVID-19 burden even when school contribution to transmission and immunity in the population is low. Moving forward, the adoption of antigen-based screenings in schools could be instrumental to limit COVID-19 burden while vaccines continue to be rolled out.

Effects of vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions and their lag times on the COVID-19 pandemic: Comparison of eight countries

Many countries implemented measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic, but the effects of these measures have varied greatly. We evaluated the effects of different policies, the prevalence of dominant variants (e.g., Delta), and vaccination on the characteristics of the COVID-19 pandemic in eight countries. We quantified the lag times of different non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and vaccination using a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). We also tested whether these lag times were reasonable by analyzing changes in daily cases and the effective reproductive number (Rt)over time. Our results indicated that the response to vaccination in countries with continuous vaccination programs lagged by at least 40 days, and the lag time for a response to NPIs was at least 14 days. A rebound was most likely to occur during the 40 days after the first vaccine dose. We also found that the combination of school closure, workplace closure, restrictions on mass gatherings, and stay-at-home requirements were successful in containing the pandemic. Our results thus demonstrated that vaccination was effective, although some regions were adversely affected by new variants and low vaccination coverage. Importantly, relaxation of NPIs soon after implementation of a vaccination program may lead to a rebound.

Carrying the Burden Into the Pandemic – Effects of Social Disparities on Elementary Students’ Parents’ Perception of Supporting Abilities and Emotional Stress During the COVID-19 Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges, especially for families. Both the public and the scientific community are currently discussing the extent to which school closings have worsened existing social differences, especially with regard to children’s academic and socio-emotional development. At the same time, parents have had to manage childcare and home schooling alongside their jobs and personal burdens posed by the pandemic. Parents’ possibilities for meeting these cognitive and emotional challenges might also depend on the different conditions in families. For this reason, the present paper investigates the structural and process characteristics of the family as well as children’s and parents’ psychological characteristics that predict how parents assess their ability to support their child’s learning during homeschooling as well as parents’ perceived emotional stress caused by school closure. The study analyses data of the Newborn Cohort Study of the German National Educational Panel Study. The two dependent variables (self-assessment of abilities, perceived stress) were measured during the COVID-19 pandemic after the first school closure in Germany, at a time when the children of this cohort were attending second grade. Besides a number of control variables (including the child’s struggle with home schooling), families’ structural characteristics [socioeconomic status (SES), education], process characteristics (home learning environment, HLE), parents’ psychological characteristics (preceding psychological stress), and the child’s psychological characteristics (self-regulation, school-related independence) from earlier waves were included as predictors. The results of structural equation models show that perceived stress was associated with structural factors and the preceding psychological stress of parents. Parents with higher preceding stress reported higher perceived stress. Interestingly, higher-educated parents also reported more stress than lower educated parents during the pandemic. The effect was the other way around for SES – parents with lower SES reported more stress than parents with higher SES. The self-reported abilities to support the learning of the child seemed to be mainly predicted by the parent’s education as well as preceding psychological stress. To sum up, the results identify important aspects that determine how parents handle the challenges of the school closures. Especially, socially disadvantaged families carry their burden into the pandemic.

Reasons in favour of universal vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in the pediatric population

Background Despite the growing evidence of the extreme efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in adults and the elderly, the administration of the same prophylactic measures to pediatric subjects is debated by some parents and by a number of researchers. The aim of this manuscript is to explain the reasons for overcoming hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccination in children and adolescents and to highlight the importance of universal COVID-19 vaccination in the pediatric population. Main findings Recent epidemiological data suggest that the risk that a child with COVID-19 is hospitalized or admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit is greater than initially thought. Children may also suffer from long COVID and school closure because of COVID-19 can cause relevant mental health problems in the pediatric population. Placebo-controlled, observer-blinded, clinical trials showed appropriate efficacy, safety and tolerability of authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in children and adolescents 12–17 years old. Vaccination in children younger than 12 years of age will allow further benefits . Conclusions COVID-19 vaccine administration seems mandatory in all the children and adolescents because of COVID-19 related complications as well as the efficacy, safety and tolerability of COVID-19 vaccines in this population. Due to the recent approval of COVID-9 vaccines for children 5–10 years old, it is desirable that vaccine opponents can understand how important is the universal immunization against COVID-19 for the pediatric subjects.

Staying Online, Staying Connected: Exploring the Effect of Online Chatting on Adolescents’ Psychological Well-being during COVID-19 Quarantine

Rooted in scholarship of social connectedness and social support, this research raises the question: Can online chatting help mitigate the negative psychological influence of physical distancing during COVID-19? By a correlational and cross-sectional research design, the current study testified the mediating role of two factors—social connectedness and perceived social support in the relationship between online chatting and three indicators of psychological well-being (happiness, self-esteem, and loneliness) for adolescents. This research demonstrated the potential of online chatting in mitigating the severity of quarantine from the supplementary perspective of online communication effects on adolescents, which provided a further insight into understanding the ways in which adolescents use media during school closure. Possible contingent factors that should be paid special attention to in future researches are discussed.

The Effectiveness of Governmental Nonpharmaceutical Interventions Against COVID-19 On The Control of Seasonal Influenza Transmission: An Ecological Study

Background: A range of strict nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) had been implemented in many countries to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. These NPIs might also be effective in controlling the seasonal influenza virus, which share the same transmission path with SARS-CoV-2. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of different NPIs for control of seasonal influenza.Methods: Data on 14 NPIs implemented in 33 countries and corresponding data on influenza virologic surveillance were collected. The influenza suppression index was calculated as the difference between the influenza-positive rate during its decline period from 2019 to 2020 and that during influenza epidemic seasons in the previous 9 years. A machine learning model was developed by using extreme gradient boosting tree (XGBoost) regressor to fit NPI data and influenza suppression index. SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) was used to characterize NPIs in suppressing influenza.Results: Gathering limitation contributed the most (37.60%) among all NPIs in suppressing influenza transmission in the 2019-2020 influenza season. The top three effective NPIs were gathering limitation, international travel restriction, and school closure. Regarding the three NPIs, their intensity threshold to generate effect were restrictions on the size of gatherings less than 1000 people, travel bans on all regions or total border closure, and closing only some categories of schools, respectively. There was a strong positive interaction effect between mask wearing requirement and gathering limitation, whereas merely implementing mask wearing requirement but ignoring other NPIs would dilute mask wearing requirement’s effectiveness in suppressing influenza.Conclusions: Gathering limitation, travel bans on all regions or total border closure, and closing some levels of schools are the most effective NPIs to suppress influenza transmission. Mask wearing requirement is advised to be combined with gathering limitation and other NPIs. Our findings could facilitate the precise control of future influenza epidemics and potential pandemics.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Educational Leader Wellbeing

The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in higher anxiety levels, in which cyberchondria played a significant role. However, little is known about the factors that helped individuals maintain their wellbeing amid the pandemic. The current chapter presents selected results from three surveys carried out with school leaders in Ireland in relation to their source of stress, and factors that helped them cope with the COVID-19 crisis. The first survey took place a week after the COVID-19-related school closure (study 1, N = 2,864). The second survey took place two months after the school closure (study 2, N = 939). The third survey took place three months after the school re-opening (study 3, N = 861). Participants were asked about their source of stress and the actions they took to maintain wellbeing. Similarities and differences were identified across all three samples using thematic analysis. Unique factors associated with specific stages of the pandemic were identified. This chapter discusses implications in relation to the policy and practice of school leaders during the school closure.

Integrating Video-Based Multimedia in Teaching Physics in Context of Covid-19 in Rwandan Secondary Schools

The Covid-19 pandemic has paralyzed the education system and lead to temporary school closure. After school re-opening, long-term responses to a resilient education system were needed. A descriptive survey research design was used to diagnose the barriers to video-based multimedia integration in teaching and learning physics in certain secondary schools. 47 physics teachers (35 males and 12 females) were purposely selected from 24 schools located in the Rutsiro and Rubavu districts. A questionnaire was given to all 47 teachers. One-on-one interview with great attention to the measures of reducing the transmission of Covid-19 was conducted to all senior five physics teachers. Research findings revealed that video-based multimedia is less used in teaching and learning physics. Teachers indicated that poor infrastructure, poor teachers’ training aimed at effective integration of multimedia in education, pressure to prepare students for exams, and teachers’ lack of time for preparation are major factors that impede the use of video-based multimedia in teaching and learning physics. Results also provided proof of the necessity to provide digital devices to teachers and learners, teachers’ training, and learners’ preparation for virtual classes so that video-based multimedia could be a better instructional strategy to long-term responses for Covid-19 and future shocks. The findings of this study revealed that VBM could be a consensus on education and technology competency required to support teaching and learning especially during Covid-19 and future shocks.

Philippines teachers’ beliefs on digital teaching competence in post-pandemic recovery: Still prefer online?

As the effect of school closure following the coronavirus lockdowns, the use of virtual classrooms has extremely rocketed to replace face-to-face school interaction. This change has resulted in new habits and adaptation in methods and approaches of teaching, particularly in the era of post pandemic recovery. This study is based on the phenomena occurred in most of school environments where digital (online) teaching practices become a new habit for teachers and students. A question that may arise is “do they still prefer online after the pandemic?” Drawing on this issue, this study aims to examine the beliefs of Philippines junior high schools teachers on digital teaching competence and to explore their preferences on teaching methods (online or offline) in post pandemic recovery. This study utilized a discovery-oriented qualitative approach, bridging into personal narrative and ethnographic perspective by involving twelve teachers teaching at several junior high schools in Davao Philippines. The results revealed that the teachers’ beliefs mattered in terms of digital platforms (tools) and classroom activities. The results further depicted that their acquisition of digital teaching competence greatly depended on teacher professional development programs and individual trainings. Moreover, this study also discussed the teachers’ preferences on the model of teaching either online or offline after the schools is opened. The results of this study contribute to providing valuable insights into redefining the situation of teaching and learning process in the era of post pandemic recovery.