Investigations on the Control of COVID-19 and Suggestions for Re-Open Based on Model Study

Data-based analysis gives out an estimation of the incubation period. A dynamic model is established and discussed. Disease reproduction number reveals the high probability of COVID-19 pandemic, but strengthening the exposure of asymptomatic people will help to curb the transmission, and measures of contact-tracking and stay-at-home play a replaceable role. Discussions point out that social disruption can be avoided if the contact tracking rate can be more than 0.5. Investigations for re-opening show that a city of the same size as Wuhan can be reopened if new cases are continuously below 1000 for a few days and when they are less than 500, with the assurance of contact tracking associated with extensive testing. In short, tracking and testing are the prioritized strategies, while maintaining awareness can shorten the epidemic period and mobility restrictions can be avoided.

‘Four walls and a garden’: Exploring the experiences of families affected by dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction When the first national COVID-19 lockdown came into effect in the UK in March 2020, life changed significantly. Some services and social contacts for people with dementia and their families stopped, while others, for example, peer support, moved online. This research explored the experiences of families affected by dementia during the pandemic, specifically those living in the community. Aims In partnership with a community dementia charity, this study sought to gain an understanding of the experiences of people with dementia and family carers during the COVID-19 pandemic and explore the impact and implications of lockdown on people with dementia and family carers. Methods This was a qualitative study that used semi-structured interviews to collect data from people with dementia and family carers. Interviews were conducted online via video call, individually or within caring dyads. Initially, data were coded, analysed and themed inductively. Additionally, social disruption and social division theories were used to deductively identify patterns in the data to enhance understanding. Findings Six distinct themes were identified from the inductive analysis: Routine: ‘busy life before lockdown’; Isolation: ‘ four walls and a garden’; Living with restrictions: ‘ treading on eggshells’; Discovering positives: ‘you are in the same boat’; Easing lockdown: ‘ raring to go’; Heightened uncertainty: ‘ things have changed’. Illustrative examples of symptoms of social disruption and division were identified within the data: frustration, democratic disconnection, fragmentation, polarisation and escalation. Conclusion Experiences of people with dementia and family carers during the pandemic were mixed, resulting in hopes and worries for the future. Social disruption and social division are relevant frameworks for analysing experiences of COVID-19.

Something eventful this way comes: on pandemics, events, and capitalism

Existentially and conceptually the disruptive wake of Covid-19 is different from the kind of problems the global community has weathered in the past. My article draws on Alain Badiou’s notion of an “event”—something unpredictable in its local specificities and radically open in terms of its possible effects—to explore the ramifications of the pandemic. Badiou’s approach is distinctive in that it explores different kinds of social disruption and can help us grasp whether the pandemic might carry the seeds of a revolution. I explore the disruptive effects of Covid-19 by first defining Badiou’s notion of events, and then examine whether Covid-19 fits this definition. I argue that although the current pandemic does not satisfy all Badiou’s criteria, it nevertheless may precipitate an event because of the peculiar way it disrupts contemporary capitalism.

Family Function and Child Adjustment Difficulties in the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Study

To estimate specific proximal and distal effects of COVID-19-related restrictions on families on children’s adjustment problems, we conducted a six-site international study. In total, 2516 parents from Australia, China, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America living with a young child (Mage = 5.77, SD = 1.10, range = 3 to 8 years, 47.9% female) completed an online survey between April and July 2020. The survey included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and family risk factors (parent distress, parent–child conflict, couple conflict, and household chaos) as well as a scale to index COVID-19-related family disruption. Our analyses also included public data on the stringency of national restrictions. Across the six sites, parental responses indicated elevated levels of hyperactivity, conduct, and emotion problems in children from families characterized by heightened levels of parent distress, parent–child conflict, and household chaos. In contrast, increased peer problems were more strongly related to COVID-19-related social disruption and stringency measures. Mediation models demonstrated that associations between COVID-19 social disruption and child difficulties could be explained by parental distress. Taken together, these results suggest that although the experience of the pandemic differed across countries, associations between COVID-19-related family experiences and child adjustment difficulties were similar in their nature and magnitude across six different contexts. Programs to support family resilience could help buffer the impact of the pandemic for two generations.

Building Social Resilience after the 2014 Flood Disaster

The 2014 flood disaster has brought physical destruction, damage as well as social disruption that caused normal life to become less stable. A state of social equilibrium needs to be restored through effective restoration solutions to normalise life after the disaster. This qualitative research aims to identify two main issues, namely social disruption and social resilience, by utilising a case study of the 2014 flood disaster in Hulu Dungun, Terengganu. A total of 15 victims were selected using the purposive sampling method based on a set of defined criteria–the data collection method comprised of in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. The data were analysed through thematic analysis techniques. The results showed that the disruption suffered by the victims included disruption of social roles, the uncertainty of employment, instability of social routine, and collective trauma. However, the availability of social resilience had enabled the victims to rebuild their lives after flood disasters and restore the ‘normal’ or ‘stable’ situations of social equilibrium. The research is expected to contribute to environmental sociology that has yet to receive widespread attention from sociological researchers in Malaysia. This research is a meaningful effort towards promoting and increasing the environmental sociology study, which to date, remains disoriented.

Introduction

Disconnection is a research topic that attracts increasing amounts of attention. However, there is a lack of research on how different forms of disconnection are related to the production of space and place. This chapter introduces the volume Disentangling: The Geographies of Digital Disconnection, which gathers 12 chapters from different disciplines. Bringing together key insights from the chapters, this introduction overviews the research terrain and presents an agenda for research into the geographies of digital disconnection. It discusses (1) the power geometries of (dis)connection; (2) the existential issues stemming from digitally entangled lives, and (3) how the ambiguities of (dis)connection are accentuated and exposed in time-spaces of social disruption (e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic). The chapter also proposes disentangling as a complementary term for contextualizing issues of (dis)connection from a social and spatial perspective. Disentangling is ultimately a matter of rethinking and reworking the entangling force of connective media.

Social disruption of the tourism and hospitality industries: implications for post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how societal disruptions in the wake of disasters and crises also disrupt the tourism and hospitality industries. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes a case-study approach. First, the literature on disasters/crises is reviewed; then three cases in which disasters impacted local, regional and global tourism and hospitality industries are examined: Hurricane Katrina, Arab Spring and the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings Three principles are proposed to assist in mitigating the impacts of disaster on the tourist industry. These principles also serve as a means of potentially re-orienting and guiding the tourism and hospitality industries toward a sustainable and equitable future. Originality/value In addition to the three guiding principles offered in this paper; the examination of COVID-19 offers a novel case in which tourism is impacted globally by a singular disaster. Findings and implications from this case will guide recovery and, potentially, allow for a reconceptualization of the tourism and hospitality industries.