Ocular manifestations and SARS-CoV-2 detection in tears and conjunctival scrape from non-severe COVID-19 patients

AIM: To explore the ocular features of corona virus disease (COVID)-19 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 detection in tears and conjunctival scrapes in non-severe COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This is a multicenter observational clinical study with no intervention conducted from Jan 25th to March 1st, 2020. Clinical data and samples of tears and conjunctival scraping were collected in consecutive laboratory-confirmed, non-severe COVID-19 patients from three hospitals. COVID-19 virus was analyzed by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kits. RESULTS: Totally 255 laboratory-confirmed, non-severe COVID-19 patients were recruited for ocular manifestation investigation. Of them, 54.9% were females, with a mean age of 49.4y. None of the patients has evidence of uveitis; 11 patients (4.3%) complained of mild asthenopia; 2 (0.8%) had mild conjunctival congestion and serous secretion. Twenty-five of them had performed tears and conjunctival scrape for COVID-19 virus detection, with 4 yield possible positive results in the nucleoprotein gene. One of them were asymptomatic with normal chest CT and positive pharyngeal swab result. CONCLUSION: Ocular manifestations are neither common nor specific in non-severe COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, COVID-19 virus nucleotides can be detected in the tears and conjunctival scrape samples, warranting further research on the transmissibility by the ocular route.

Ebola Virus Disease in sub-Saharan Africa: Addressing Gaps to Handle Future Outbreaks

Between 2014 and 2016, the three West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone experienced the deadliest Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in sub-Saharan Africa. Two years later, a tenth epidemic recurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), specifically in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces, which lasted until June 2020. Though they occurred in different countries, a review of how the EVD outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the DRC were handled by the respective country governments, reveal gaps in disease detection, response and action due to lack of surveillance, an EVD preparedness plan, and weak health systems. This perspective discusses the EVD outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the DRC, their effects, and draws attention to gaps that need to be addressed by these countries in order to be better prepared to handle future outbreaks. Acting on the proposed recommendations will not only benefit Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the DRC in the future, but will be of benefit to EVD susceptible countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as we live in a global community where diseases are no respecters of boundaries.

COVID-19 Prevention in Elementary and Secondary Schools in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Introduction: Corona virus disease affects all segment of present-day society regardless of age, sex and societal status as well as environment. Objective: This article explored possible measures that would prevent the spread of COVID-19 in elementary and secondary school environments. Method: A qualitative study utilizing exploratory descriptive approach. Online social media platforms-were exploited for data collection with voluntary, yet eligible 36 participants drawn from the teaching and healthcare fields between 1st of April to 4sht of May 2020. Data analysis: Participants` responses were transcribed verbatim and a line-by-line thematic analysis was conducted to identify emerging themes. Finding: Five themes and thirteen (13) sub-themes emerged namely: Preventive measures: awareness and knowledge creation: effective information and management system: availability of drugs and other amenities: monitoring and evaluation. Conclusion: If the aforementioned measures are adopted, though COVID-19 will leave with mankind as other infectious diseases for a period until science can discover means to eradicate, the fast spreading rate will be reduced to a very low ebb and educational activities would be uninterrupted, since there would not be further closure of elementary and secondary schools in Bayelsa State.

Indian Laws during COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications to Health and Management

Introduction: 2019 corona virus disease (COVID-19), a respiratory disease caused by a new corona virus (SARS corona virus 2, also known as novel corona virus) in China, has spread and attracted worldwide attention. The WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a global public health emergency on January 30, 2020. Following the 2002 corona virus (SARS-Corona Virus) and the 2012 MERS Corona Virus, the virus SARS corona is the third most infectious disease and the largest corona virus that caused human outbreaks in the 20th century. Aim: To assess the Indians law that affects or supports the Indian citizen with present scenario of Pandemic. Conclusion: Coronavirus has called for a mixed response in India. The answer includes a host of regulations, guidelines, services, and administrative structures, as well as public and government warnings. As the demands of government action grow, the Passivence Sicknesses Act has become a topic of discussion. Instead of establishing a comprehensive health care system, the Pestilence Infections Act allows states to take special measures in response to serious infectious diseases. The law gives the public a broad mandate to participate in oppressive actions against citizens within this limited framework.

Response of Indonesian universities to the (COVID-19) pandemic – between strategy and implementation

Escalated by mid-January 2020, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a profound effect on all aspects of society, including the education activities in higher education. Colleges and universities globally are taking various actions to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. These efforts are mainly to secure the well-being of their students and staff, as well as members of their communities. Due to the increasing number of infections has prompted a number of universities in Indonesia to participate in the fight against the virus outbreak. This article provides an overview of the role played by Indonesian universities dealing with COVID-19 pandemic and how Indonesian universities serving the public good for COVID-19 breakthroughs. The research problem of this study focuses on how the strategies developed by the university in responding to COVID-19 and their implementation to reduce the potential consequences of the pandemic impacts. Subsequently, this paper presented the responses of universities in Indonesia in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The forms of responses presented in this paper are academic responses, research and development responses and social community services responses. Furthermore, a conceived information of the issues and challenging of involving of universities in collaborating on solutions to crises of the coronavirus pandemic in Indonesian context were portrayed. In conclusion, this paper summarizes the contribution of Indonesian universities and its impacts in fighting deadly virus disease COVID-19.

Aplikasi untuk Mengenerate dan Pengiriman Sertifikat Webinar di Masa Pandemi Corona Virus Disease 19

<p>Pandemi <em>Coronavirus Disease</em> (COVID-19) terjadi di lebih dari 200 negara termasuk Indonesia, telah mengubah kebiasaan masyarakat dalam berkomunikasi dan berinteraksi. Covid-19 memaksa masyarakat untuk berkomunikasi dan berinteraksi secara <em>online</em> dengan menggunakan <em>platform</em> seperti <em>Zoom</em>, <em>Google-meet</em>, <em>Webex</em>, dan <em>platform</em> lainnya. Salah satu sektor yang mengalami dampak yang mengharuskan berkomunikasi dan berinteraksi secara <em>online</em> adalah sektor pendidikan, hal tersebut bertujuan untuk mencegah penyebaran dan penularan Covid-19. Salah satu kegiatan di sektor pendidikan yang harus dilaksanakan secara <em>online</em> adalah seminar. Seminar yang dilaksanakan secara <em>online</em> di masa pandemi Covid-19 ini dikenal dengan sebutan Webinar. Pada webinar, pengelola webinar menghadapi permasalahan setelah pelaksanaan webinar yaitu bagaimana men<em>generate</em> dan mengirimkan sertifikat kepada peserta webinar secara massal. Penelitian ini telah mengembangkan aplikasi berbasis web yang diberi nama Cobinar. Cobinar merupakan aplikasi yang digunakan untuk membantu pengelola webinar dalam mengatasi permasalahan yang berkaitan <em>generate</em> dan pengiriman sertifikat massal kepada peserta webinar. Aplikasi Cobinar dikembangkan dengan menggunakan bahasa pemrograman PHP dan menggunakan <em>Database Management System (</em>DBMS) MySql. Sedangkan metode pengembangan perangkat lunak yang digunakan adalah <em>Waterfall.</em> Berdasarkan hasil uji coba, aplikasi Cobinar ini mampu men<em>generate</em> dan mengirimkan sertifikat ke peserta webinar dengan lebih efektif dan efisien, hal ini dapat dilihat dari hasil pengujian menggunakan <em>User Acceptance Test</em> (UAT) yang menyatakan bahwa 95 persen pengguna menyatakan bahwa aplikasi Cobinar mudah untuk dijalankan. Kontribusi utama dari penelitian ini adalah pengembangan sebuah aplikasi yang dapat digunakan oleh pengelola webinar untuk men<em>generate</em> dan mengirimkan sertifikat webinar kepada peserta.</p><p> </p><p><em><strong>Abstract</strong></em></p><p><em>The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic occurred in more than 200 countries, including Indonesia, which has changed people's habits in communicating and interacting. Covid-19 forces people to communicate and interact online using Zoom, Google-meet, Webex, and other platforms. One sector that has experienced the impact of communicating and interacting online is the education sector, which aims to prevent the spread and transmission of Covid-19. One of the activities in the education sector that must be carried out online is a conference. This conference, which was held online during the Covid-19 pandemic, is known as a Webinar. The webinar manager faced a problem after the webinar, namely, how to generate and send certificates to webinar participants. This research has developed a web-based application called Cobinar. Cobinar is an application used to assist webinar managers in overcoming problems related to generating and sending mass certificates to webinar participants. The Cobinar application was developed using the PHP programming language and using the MySql Database Management System (DBMS). While the software development method used is Waterfall. The Cobinar application can generate and send certificates to webinar participants more effectively and efficiently based on testing. It can be seen from the results of testing using the User Acceptance Test (UAT), which states that 95 percent of users state that the Cobinar application is easy to operate. The main contribution of this research is the development of an application that webinar administrators can use to generate and send webinar certificates to participants.</em></p>

Pengaruh Pengadaan Barang dan Jasa pada Masa Pandemi Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Terhadap Kondisi Keuangan Rumah Sakit di RSUP Dr. Kariadi Semarang

Mekanisme pengadaan barang dan jasa (PBJ) dalam penanganan keadaan darurat berbeda dengan kondisi normal/biasa. Perbedaan utama adalah pada tahapan pelaksanaan pengadaannya. Masalah yang terjadi saat ini adalah disparitas harga yang sangat besar, ketersediaan dan jumlah kebutuhan yang meningkat terutama pada alat pelindung diri (APD). Disparitas telah mengakibatkan pengeluaran rumah sakit menjadi lebih besar. Kondisi ini memberikan pengaruh terhadap keuangan rumah sakit. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian observasional dengan metode kualitatif. Data yang diambil adalah data primer dan data sekunder. Informan terdiri dari informan utama dan informan triangulasi. Instrumen pengumpulan data adalah pedoman wawancara mendalam. Dari hasil penelitian diketahui bahwa sebelum pandemi COVID-19 ada dua metode pelaksanaan PBJ (E-Katalog dan Pengadaan Langsung) sedangkan PBJ pada masa pandemi menggunakan tiga metode (E-Katalog, pengadaan langsung dan penunjukan langsung). Proses PBJ sudah sesuai dengan aturan yang telah ditetapkan. Proses PBJ yang dilakukan telah mematuhi prinsip - prinsip dan etika PBJ. Terdapat perubahan Rencana Umum Pengadaan Tahun 2020 akibat pandemi. Realisasi penerimaan RSUP Dr. Kariadi Tahun 2020 melampaui target yang telah ditetapkan, sehingga dapat dikatakan kondisi keuangan RSUP Dr. Kariadi selama masa Pandemi COVID-19 dinilai sehat. Kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah proses PBJ pada kondisi pandemi COVID-19 telah sesuai dengan prinsip – prinsip, etika dan peraturan yang telah ditetapkan serta kondisi keuangan RSUP Dr. Kariadi saat pandemi COVID-19 dinilai sehat.

Association of cycle threshold values of CBNAAT with severity and outcome in COVID-19

Determination of viral load through cycle threshold (Ct) values may act as a predictor of severity and outcomes in patients with corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, variable literature is available regarding this relationship. Our study attempted to explore this association and the effect of various socio-demographic and clinical parameters on severity and outcome of COVID-19. Retrospective analysis of records of 731 patients whose nasopharyngeal/ oropharyngeal swabs were subjected to cartridge based nucleic acid amplification (CBNAAT) on Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-Cov-2 was done. Cycle threshold (Ct) values of N2 and E genes were studied in relation to severity and outcome of COVID-19. The viral load as determined by Ct values was classified as high (<25), medium (25.1-32) and low (>32). Association of socio-demographic and clinical parameters with respect to severity and outcome was also studied. Severity and mortality were significantly more in elder individuals, those belonging to the rural background, those with symptoms >7 days in duration before presentation and those with increasing number of co-morbidities (Severity: p<0.001, mortality: p <0.001, 0.005, 0.006 and <0.001 respectively). The Ct values of gene N2 and E inversely correlated with severity and mortality from the disease (N2 gene: p=0.001 for both severity and mortality, E gene: severity: p<0.001, mortality: p=0.016 respectively). The severity of the illness and chances of mortality were significantly lesser when the CT value of N2 gene was >32, in comparison when it was upto 25, and when between 25.1 and 32 (severity: p=0.032 and 0.003 respectively, mortality: p=0.018 and <0.001 respectively). Almost similar trends were seen with respect to E gene (severity: p<0.001 and 0.067 respectively, mortality p=0.175 and 0.005 respectively). Viral load as determined by Ct values of N2 and E genes can act as surrogate markers for prediction of severity and disease outcomes in COVID-19.

COVID-19, a Pandemic Situation: Symptoms and its Prevention Scenario

The corona virus COVID-19 is the pandemic due to global health crisis among the world and greatest challenge that we have faced in 21ST century. The novel corona virus disease COVID-19 has become the 5th pandemic which is reported in Wuhan, China and gradually spread into worldwide. This virus is a spillover of an animal virus and then also adapted the ability of transferring human to human. This virus is highly contagious due to rapid spread and constantly evolves in the human population. This virus has spread to every continent of the world and the death ratio is staggering. The COVID-19 pandemic is a lot more than just a health calamity, but it is also socio-economic because people are losing jobs and income. The COVID-19 disease affects physical and mental health due to isolation. Moreover, more and more countries are affecting the cases of COVID-19 which are rising very rapidly day by day. Therefore, every country needs to several actions which accelerates their safety health, balance between the protection of health, prevent economic and social disruption due to this pandemic. In the spirit of the solidarity, we all need to be contributing our self to protect this situation. However, every country is equally responsible for determining the measures to prevent or decrease the viral transmission. Government authorizes also trying to act for reduce disease’s trajectory and they focus on develop the vaccination and therapeutic drugs.

Smart Band for Monitoring Vitals for Elderly People in Quarantine

Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a pandemic with serious clinical manifestations including death. A pandemic at the large-scale like COVID-19 places extraordinary demands on the world’s health systems, dramatically devastates vulnerable populations, and critically threatens the global communities in an unprecedented way. While tremendous efforts at the frontline are placed on detecting the virus, providing treatments and developing vaccines, it is also critically important to examine the technologies and systems for tackling disease emergence, arresting its spread and especially the strategy for diseases prevention. The objective of this article is to review enabling technologies and systems with various application scenarios for handling the COVID-19 crisis. The article will focus specifically on 1) wearable devices suitable for monitoring the populations at risk and those in quarantine, both for evaluating the health status of caregivers and management personnel, and for facilitating triage processes for admission to hospitals; 2) unobtrusive sensing systems for detecting the disease and for monitoring patients with relatively mild symptoms whose clinical situation could suddenly worsen in improvised hospitals; and 3) telehealth technologies for the remote monitoring and diagnosis of COVID-19 and related diseases. Finally, further challenges and opportunities for future directions of development are highlighted.