Category: COVID-19

Introduction

The tourism industry is one of the most important and influential areas of any country. This is due to the fact that the economic sphere of states depends on it to a large extent. Thus, it is a profitable type of business that contributes to the optimization of the country’s economic processes. In addition, tourism has a great influence on such sections as the development of transport, communications, catering, construction, and job creation. In addition, it is worth noting that the tourism and hospitality industry greatly contributes to the dissemination of knowledge about the culture and traditions of the country and awareness of the importance of maintaining and preserving it. Thus, there is a lot of evidence of the value of this field, which makes it necessary to focus on the problems that are associated with it. One of the most pressing issues that still affect this area is the contribution of the global coronavirus pandemic. Henceforth, this disease has caused the closure of the world lockdown and the closure of the borders of many countries, which had a negative impact on the tourism and hospitality industry. Therefore, this research aims to study the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry in China.

In order to find the most relevant and up-to-date information, it is necessary to conduct thorough scientific research. This approach allows one to take into account the opinion of various segments of the population in planning the activities of tourism and service facilities. Moreover, it provides data from various researchers on the effects, and consequences of the pandemic and how to deal with them. Therefore, the scientific research in the field of tourism and hospitality in China will make it possible to use their results in the practical activities of organizations of this profile.

First of all, it is necessary to gain an understanding of how the global coronavirus pandemic has affected the tourism and hospitality industry. Hence, the recent COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an issue of utmost severity, resulting in economy collapse all around the world. UN World Tourism Organization (2022a) reports that, prior to virus outbreak, a sustainable growth was observed in the tourist industry, with around 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals in 2019. However, after the start of the pandemic, 100% of worldwide destinations forced travel restrictions, resulting in the unprecedented decrease in tourism profitability for every country (UN WTO, 2022a). China was among the most affected states, with the virus originating from Wuhan city.

Thus, COVID-19 pandemic served as a significant hindrance for the development of tourism industry, both in China and worldwide. As of 2020, UNWTO (2022a) reports that the indicators dropped drastically, with 74% losses in international tourist arrivals, $1.3 trillion of financial losses, and over $2 trillion of estimated GDP losses. However, after the development of vaccines and mass vaccination, China managed to recover in 2021-2022. UNWTO’s (2022b) recent report shows that international tourism has been steadily growing – the overall arrivals rates reached 57% of pre-pandemic levels in the first 7 months of 2022, and continue to rise. Moreover, World Travel and Tourism Council (2022) reports that Chinese tourism industry is expected to increase its contribution to country’s GDP by more than 60%, as opposed to 30.7% worldwide. This makes China one of the quickest countries to recover from the blow of the pandemic, with predicted annual increase of tourism GDP contribution of CNY 2.8 trillion (WTTC, 2022). Thus, the tourism industry in China is developing rapidly, even after the collapse associated with pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions of 2019-2021, which gives it a great competitive advantage.

According to the researchers, Chinese tourists previously exported about $50 billion abroad, and every effort should be made to ensure that some of this money remains inside the country. It is worth noting that despite the rather long time that has passed since the pandemic, China is still struggling with its consequences. Therefore, UNWTO noted that “however, arrivals in Asia and the Pacific remained 83% below 2019 levels. China, a key source market for the region, remains closed” (UN World Tourist Organization, 2022b, para. 4). This makes it necessary to study this topic, especially the opinions of tourists regarding the problem, in order to determine the effect of the pandemic on tourism in the country.

The importance of this research paper appears in several aspects. First of all, it will provide insight into the state research on the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry in China. Such an approach would contribute greatly to the development of measures to improve tourism and hospitality in China after the pandemic. In this regard, this work will be of value for all the main directions of tourist theory and practice that have arisen on the basis of such connections. The principles of the organization of business service and hospitality presented in this paper will have a beneficial effect on the functioning of businesses. The importance of this research for communities is related to the fact that it presents the visual use of various tools that enhance the economic, social, and humanitarian impact of tourism on society.

Aims, Objectives, Research Questions, and Hypotheses

The aim of this research is to study and identify the effect that the COVID-19 had on the tourism and hospitality industry in China and the ways that the country has been fighting its consequences. The work also would focus on assessing the current state and prospects for the development of hospitality. The main objectives of the research are to define the concept of the tourism industry and determine its place and role in the Chinese economy. Further, the research aims to analyze the structure and dynamics of the current development of the tourism industry in China and assess the effectiveness of integration processes in the activities of tourism enterprises there. The final objective is to determine the main prospects for the development of hospitality in China after the global pandemic.

For the qualitative part of the study, there are several research questions that will be investigated. The first question that concerns this research is, “What effect has the coronavirus had on the operations and productivity of the tourism and hospitality industry in China?” The necessity to study this statement is due to the fact that after the worldwide lockdown, the number of tourists in the country decreased significantly, which had a very obvious effect on its economy. Therefore, a study of the scientific literature will provide a more detailed understanding of this topic and allow us to identify and evaluate measures that can be taken to limit the problem. The next research question will be: “What are the current and relevant prospects for the development of hospitality and tourism in China?” This is a necessary step in identifying the prospects for improving the tourism infrastructure and how they align with the current trends. The solution of these problems has an impact on the development of adjacent sciences and the strategy of tourism development.

Several hypotheses for the quantitative part of the study are formulated as follows. The coronavirus pandemic infection was critical for the tourism industry in China, and its consequences of preventive measures related to it can be traced to this day. The second hypothesis is that the practical strategies and policies adopted by the government to combat COVID-19 have enabled the industry to recover from the global pandemic quite quickly and return to effective operations.

Annotated Bibliography

Hong, Y. et al. (2020) “The impact of COVID-19 on tourist satisfaction with B&B in Zhejiang, China: An importance–performance analysis,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10), 2020, p. 3747.

The first article that has been investigated in this paper is the work of Hong et al., who studied the effect of coronavirus on the level of tourist satisfaction regarding the B&B (bed and breakfast) industry. There is quite a small number of studies on this topic, which makes this scientific paper valuable to study. The authors state that “tourist satisfaction, as a marketing tool, plays a key role in the construction of strategies in the tourism market” (Hong et al., 2020, p. 4). Consequently, it can be concluded that in order to transform China’s tourism and hospitality industry, it is necessary to conduct research and implement measures regarding the desires and needs of tourists.

Hoque, A. et al. (2020) ‘The effect of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the tourism industry in China,’ Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(1), pp. 52-58.

This research paper provides a clear and complete explanation of how global diffusion has affected China’s tourism, which is relevant to this research paper. The information within this paper has been compiled using a literature review of academic sources. This represents the strength of the research as it is a evidence-based research. Therefore, the authors concluded that “due to this virus threat, outside people fear mixing up with the Chinese population” (Hoque et al., p. 52). For this reason, many airlines canceled flights to the country, and travel agencies canceled the sale of trips to China. Because of this, the state’s economy suffered serious shocks and “created a major downfall in the tourism industry from domestic as well as international perspectives” (Hoque et al., p. 52). Thus, the results and findings of this article will be useful for researching the questions and hypotheses of this paper.

Li, Z. et al. (2021) “Urban and rural tourism under COVID-19 in China: Research on the recovery measures and tourism development,” Tourism Review, 76(4), pp. 718–736.

Urban and rural tourism are among the most important parts of Chinese tourism industry. The authors of the article discuss the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak of 2019-2021 on urban and rural tourism in China, focusing on major milestones of the course of pandemic. Moreover, the study reviews a significant amount of published works, various measures, and attitudes of the stakeholders towards these types of tourism and their development in the future. The authors analyzed news reports and determined most frequent words using mining software to provide insight into the official discourse related to urban and rural tourism. The study offers valuable insight into current trends of Chinese tourism industry and its future prospects.

Nazneen, S., Hong, X., and Ud Din, N. (2020) ‘COVID-19 crises and tourist travel risk perceptions,” SSRN Electronic Journal.

The article by Nazneen, Hong, and Ud Din looks at the negative impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry, as well as how it has changed the way tourists think about traveling to China. Thus, the global disease has largely influenced people’s tourist behavior as a result of the fear associated with visiting the country where the virus was first found (Nazneen, Hong, and Ud Din, 2020). In addition, the scientific paper notes that individuals began to pay great attention to safety and hygiene. Henceforth, tourists will not visit countries and tourist places and locations that do not comply with the newly established rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The information given in the article may be useful for studying the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on China’s tourism and hospitality industry.

Wen, J. et al. (2020) ‘COVID-19: potential effects on Chinese citizens’ lifestyle and travel,” Tourism Review, 76(1), pp. 74-87.

The article by Wen et al. is valuable because it examines the changes that the pandemic has brought to domestic tourism in the country. Thus, the research paper “aims to examine how the outbreak may alter Chinese tourists’ lifestyle choices, travel behavior, and tourism preferences in the short and long term” (Wen et al., 2020, p. 74). The authors conclude that the country’s residents may significantly change their preferences for tourist activities. Therefore, free and independent travel, luxury trips, and health and wellness tourism may become among the most popular ways of leisure. Moreover, it is noted that the transformation caused by COVID-19 can have a positive impact on the activities of the tourism and hospitality industry. This can happen through changes in the functioning of agencies and offering new ways of tourism, such as fast and smart travel. Thus, this paper is important for this research as it has a unique perspective on the problem under consideration.

Wu, W. et al. (2021) ‘The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Chinese-listed tourism stocks,” Financial Innovation, 7(1), pp. 1-18.

The research paper by Wu et al. is important for this research paper because it focuses on the economic side of the spread of coronavirus in the world and changes in the tourism field. Thus, the authors note that “China reported the first COVID-19 case in Wuhan, leading to its GDP to decline by 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same period of 2019” (Wu et al., 2021, p. 2). In addition, the main consequences were a decline in the stock market, fewer jobs, and lower profits from tourism activities. This was the reason for the increase in unemployment and poverty in the country, as well as the reduced emphasis on improving the infrastructure of major tourist destinations. Due to the fact that the problem of the impact and spread of coronavirus is not completely solved, the authors note the need for further research to support the economic and tourism activities of countries.

Methodological Choices

When conducting research, it is important to define the appropriate method for data collection. In this study, the researcher would collect data from secondary sources such as books and academical publications, focused on tourism industry of China. It is important to review related literature to determine what other scholars have found in this field. The process would also involve critical assessment of articles that used experimental/quasi-experimental methods to discuss the existing phenomena in tourism and hospitality on a more global scope. The goal is to collect evidence-based data that corresponds with the aim of the study and analyze it. The wide variety of sources to be used in the study would provide assurance that the report has sufficient reliability and validity.

Qualitative research articles are considered the most appropriate for determining the current and the most relevant trends in Chinese tourism and hospitality industry. This is due to the fact that qualitative method makes it possible to investigate a phenomenon beyond statistical calculations. It focuses on interpretation, contextualization, and understanding of the studied issue, providing better framework for defining causes, effect, and outcomes of it (Silverman, 2020). However, despite all benefits, there are specific challenges associated with implementing qualitative methodology. First of all, it is time-consuming: gathering sufficient amount of data for a reliable sample can take long periods of time (Silverman, 2020). From there, another problem stems: the reliability of research is lacking, as small samples of population or problem might not be representative. Finally, there is the issue of methodology – there are no standard procedures for conducting qualitative research, as opposed to quantitative methods. Still, qualitative research would suit this research goal better, as it offers necessary background for the studied issue.

The researcher considers it equally important to review findings made by scholars who conducted experimental or quasi-experimental studies on the topic of tourism and hospitality. In general, these methods allow to model the studied issue in real-life conditions, with partial control over the factors that might influence it. This can be quite helpful in studies where the causal correlation is explored, and the need to determine the levels of influence of different factors is present. However, the flexibility of experimental and quasi-experimental studies is also considered their significant weakness: partial control over the elements of the experiment means that it is less reliable in the end. Thus, while experimental and quasi-experimental studies would be reviewed, they would constitute the minority of all researched studies.

It is also worth noting that this study will apply the philosophy of positivism. This approach “relates on the importance of what is given in general, with a more strict focus on considering pure data as well as facts without being influenced by the interpretation of bias of humans” (Alharahsheh and Pius, 2020, p. 41). It is this characteristic of this paradigm that is the basis of this choice. When conducting a study of literary sources, particular importance must be given to the data that is examined in the paper. Thus, this paper focuses on respondents’ answers, statistical information, and analysis of scientific data on the impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese tourism industry. Moreover, the limiting role of bias becomes an important component in order to obtain more valuable and effective research results.

To distinguish the degree of the influence of pandemic in China, respondents will be inquired to fill out a survey. The survey would require them to assess a selection of parameters on a 10-point scale. The frequencies and divisions (in %) with which certain values of subjective highlights happen within the test would be utilized. As for the test normal, a 95% confidence interval would be calculated for the test division and proportion. After the tests are conducted, posteriori comparisons would be performed – pairwise comparisons of the considered bunches to distinguish contrasts between them, which would facilitate report visibility.

The research strategy would be to apply the interconnection of theories and concepts related to indicators and factors related to the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry. The scientific papers selected for consideration would be the basis for the integration of knowledge from related scientific disciplines. The synthesis strategy would be applied in the theoretical generalization of empirical data accumulated in the course of these research. Using this strategy of the study, a single picture would be compiled from the disparate data obtained as a result of using empirical survey methods. It would give a holistic view of hospitality and tourism development perspectives in China after the pandemic.

Sampling Strategy

For the quantitative part of the study, the sample would consist of articles written by scientists about tourism and the effect of COVID-19 on the country. These articles should be published in reliable scientific journals and written within last 5 years. This will provide the opportunity to find the most relevant and up-to-date data for the study. The literature would be selected according to the key concepts that make up the topic of the study and containing the definitions considered at the beginning of the report. For the qualitative part of the study, the sample would consist of people who have traveled to China during the last 5 year. It would consider men and women between ages 18 and 60 belonging to different cultural and racial groups.

Among the advantages of the first sample, it can be noted that the selected criteria for articles allow to achieve greater depth, detail, and accuracy of recorded facts. Such a sample expands the possibilities to introduce additional sources, which provides comprehensive overlook. The advantages of the second sample lie in the relatively small survey sample, as well as low labor and financial costs. It is also possible to distinguish as advantages the efficiency of obtaining data, a wide scope of application, and a sufficiently high reliability.

The limitations of the first sample lie in the fact that there is a greater risk of data manipulation with systematic sampling. Researchers may unknowingly build their systems in such a way as to increase the likelihood of achieving the intended result, instead of allowing random data to give a representative answer (Galdas, 2017). In addition, the literature sample suggests that the number of factors representing the effect of COVID-19 on tourism is available or can be approximately determined. If the researcher does not have sufficient estimation of the contribution of the disease, they cannot systematically choose the starting point or the size of the interval when compiling a list of references for analysis.

The limits of the second sample refer to the need for a natural degree of randomness. The population of respondents who have traveled to China over the past year should demonstrate a natural degree of randomness according to the chosen metric. If the population has a standardized model type, the risk of random selection of very common cases becomes more obvious (Hayes, 2022). Therefore, it is necessary that a large degree of variety by age, origin, occupation, and tourist preferences should randomly appear among the respondents.

Data Analysis Plan

The analysis of the collected information in the process of literary review and survey is valuable, as it directly affects the productivity and effectiveness of the research results. Thus, within the framework of this paper, such methods as testing the proposed hypotheses and cluster analysis can be undertaken. These tools will provide a detailed study of the data and information obtained during the experimental work and will allow the formation of knowledge into groups (Aggarwal, 2018; Wierzchoń and Kłopotek, 2018). Therefore, the researchers will be able to identify such aspects as the consequences of the pandemic for the Chinese tourism sector, the areas that have been most affected, and the measures that can be taken to change the situation in the country.

For the quantitative part of the study, statistical test will be used. This is due to the fact that in order to analyze the information, one needs to visualize the data and find out an important value – the degree of variation (Mariani and Baggio, 2020). To do this, as part of the ongoing experiment, the necessary information will be collected and implemented in graphs to obtain data visualization. For example, in this way, researchers will be able to compare the difference between the frequency of visits to China before the pandemic and after. In addition, it is possible to determine the understanding of the degree of implementation of the necessary hygiene measures before, during and after COVID-19.

The choice of this particular statistical test is due to the fact that the estimate of the sample average in the analysis of scientific literature is always slightly different from the true average for the general population. The lower the variance and the larger the sample size, the smaller the representativeness error (Wen et al., 2020). If the sample obeys a normal distribution and does not contain outliers, then the errors of this sample will also obey the Cox-Stuart test.

For the qualitative part of the study, the thematic analysis approach will be used. The procedure of thematic analysis includes multi-stage coding, as is customary in the tradition of content analysis. This approach will be chosen because, unlike content analysis, the resulting codes are not only collected into semantic clusters united by a certain general category but a narrative line is formed from the codes (Neuendorf, 2018). What stands out in using this approach is the form of themes resembles individual chapters of a book, the designations of which reveal its main content (Pasca et al., 2021). The highlighted topics will take the form of a story structure about the research subject of hospitality. The frequency of occurrence of the topic can be calculated, but it is not important in itself. Much more important is the semantic weight of the topic, i.e., its contribution to the ability to reveal the general content of the subject of hospitality in China.

Ethics

The basic principles of ethical research in this case include compliance with the principle of benefit from research activities, the principle of fair selection of research participants, the principle of respect for the personality and autonomy of the subject. Compliance with the benefit principle implies that this study will not bring any harm to its participants. Compliance with the principle of fair selection of participants states that any person who meets the selection criteria (for example, gender, age, social status) has the same chance to participate (Chiumento et al., 2017). Compliance with the principle of respect for the personality and autonomy of the subject implies that all participants in the study are provided with sufficient information about the study. They shall independently and voluntarily decide whether or not to participate in the research project. The researcher would explain the objectives of the study and describe the actions that the subjects will have to perform.

Reference List

Aggarwal, C.C. (2018) An introduction to cluster analysis. In Data Clustering (pp. 1-28). Chapman and Hall/CRC.

Alharahsheh, H.H. and Pius, A. (2020) ‘A review of key paradigms: Positivism VS interpretivism,’ Global Academic Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(3), pp. 39-43.

Chiumento, A. et al. (2017) ‘Ethical standards for mental health and psychosocial support research in emergencies: review of literature and current debates,’ Globalization and Health, 13(1), pp.1-19.

Galdas, P. (2017) ‘Revisiting bias in qualitative research: Reflections on its relationship with funding and impact,’ International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), p.1609406917748992.

Hayes, A. (2022). Systematic sampling: What is it, and how is it used in research? Web.

Hong, Y. et al. (2020) “The impact of COVID-19 on tourist satisfaction with B&B in Zhejiang, China: An importance-performance analysis,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10), 2020, p. 3747.

Hoque, A. et al. (2020) ‘The effect of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the tourism industry in China,’ Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 3(1), pp. 52-58.

Li, Z. et al. (2021) “Urban and rural tourism under COVID-19 in China: Research on the recovery measures and tourism development,” Tourism Review, 76(4), pp. 718–736.

Mariani, M. and Baggio, R. (2020) ‘The relevance of mixed methods for network analysis in tourism and hospitality research’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(4), pp. 1643-1673.

Nazneen, S., Hong, X., and Ud Din, N. (2020) ‘COVID-19 crises and tourist travel risk perceptions,” SSRN Electronic Journal.

Neuendorf, K. A. (2018). Content analysis and thematic analysis. In Advanced research methods for applied psychology (pp. 211-223). Routledge.

Silverman, D. (2020) Qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publishing.

UN World Tourism Organization (2022a) COVID-19 and Tourism | 2020: A year in review, UNWTO. Web.

UN World Tourist Organization (2022b) Impact assessment of the COVID-19 outbreak on international tourism, UNWTO. Web

UN World Tourist Organization (2022b) Tourism recovery accelerates to reach 65% of pre-pandemic levels. Web

Wen, J. et al. (2020) ‘COVID-19: potential effects on Chinese citizens’ lifestyle and travel,” Tourism Review, 76(1), pp. 74-87.

Wierzchoń, S.T. and Kłopotek, M.A. (2018) Modern algorithms of cluster analysis. Springer International Publishing.

World Travel and Tourism Council (2022) China’s Travel & Tourism sector set to recover by more than 60% this year, reveals WTTC, World Travel and Tourism Council. Web

Wu, W. et al. (2021) ‘The impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Chinese-listed tourism stocks,” Financial Innovation, 7(1), pp. 1-18.

Introduction

The world is constantly changing under multiple factors’ impact, and changes are reflected in the various industries. One such circumstance, COVID-19, was declared a public health emergency, but it affected all areas of human activity and forced the countries’ leaders to introduce quarantine measures (Jong et al., 2021). Having caused significant damage to the economy, the restrictions imposed by quarantine significantly affected tourism and hospitality. Travel opportunities have almost disappeared, companies have lost profits, and many industry employees have lost their jobs. Assumptions about an imminent return to the situation before the pandemic have been dashed, meaning tourism and hospitality will face profound changes. One of the industry’s powerful companies – Booking.com, has also been hit by the fallout and be example to show pandemic consequences. Despite the losses incurred and additional challenges, companies monitor new trends in the industry and adapt to the situation.

Changes in Tourism and Hospitality Industry

The restrictions imposed due to pandemic impacted travel opportunities, bringing significant losses to the industry, and many employees lost their jobs. The fall in tourism was estimated at 97%, and a sector suffered losses of 195 billion (Salas-Paramo et al., 2021). The pandemic potential impact was underestimated, and the world was not ready for such a blow (Gössling & Schweiggart, 2022). As a result, hope influenced the assessment of possible recovery scenarios, forcing people to expect a quick return to circumstances before COVID-19. Unfulfilled optimistic assumptions demonstrated the precarious position of the industry.

Studies on the impact of coronavirus on this area have several distinct directions. A significant part of the literature focuses on the effects of the pandemic, the response to it, changes in the tourists’ opinion, the industry’s future, and the technologies introduction (Yang et al., 2021). Many researchers expected that after COVID-19, the industry would return to its previous state. Still, others shared the opinion that there would be a shift involving a more stable and mindful model of industry development (Aldao et al., 2021). It is becoming increasingly clear that a return to the previous conditions is impossible, and various companies find confirmation of the second assumption.

The pandemic’s consequences of the COVID-19 have affected the tourism and hospitality business not only from an economic perspective but also in terms of consumer behavior. Tourists choose safer travel destinations where measures have been taken to protect their health (Salas-Paramo et al., 2021). Moreover, travelers increasingly choose environmentally friendly routes and try to contribute to their communities (“The pandemic effect,” 2021). Their movements have also become predominantly domestic, preferring home countries over travel abroad (Menze, 2020b). According to Schaal (2020), tourists also book in advance less and prefer alternative accommodation to hotels. Such changes can affect the companies’ strategies and the need for innovations.

COVID-19 creates additional problems in the industry as its impact is ripple. At some points, the incidence decreases, and at some, it increases, making working conditions unpredictable (Shivdas, 2021). In Europe, instability is supported by geopolitical tension due to Russia’s actions (Forman, 2022). Nevertheless, industry companies are adapting to the new conditions and has directed efforts to new initiatives, particularly technological transformations. For example, Booking.com’s activities include the development of customer-service technology, support for connected trips, pushing mobile, and other innovations (Forman, 2022). The tourism and hospitality companies respond to pandemic challenges implementing changes and creating new initiatives.

About Booking.com

Booking.com is one of the influential companies in hospitality and tourism affected by the pandemic. It was founded as a small startup in 1996 in the Netherlands and gradually expanded its activity in the e-commerce in the industry worldwide (“About, Booking.com,™” n.d.). The company cooperates with organizations that provide opportunities for accommodating tourists and unites them on one platform for convenient access for potential customers. The advantages of Booking.com are that it builds relationships with companies in various countries of the world and strives to provide better service through low prices, safe booking, and customer support (“About, Booking.com™,” n.d.). Coronavirus, which introduced restrictions on movement, significantly changed the circumstances and opportunities with which the company works.

Consequences for Booking.com

Booking.com felt the consequences of the COVID-19 in a significant way. After the pandemic began, the company’s revenues in 2020 fell by 19% compared to the previous year, and its share price decreased (Jong et al., 2021). Menze (2020a) notes much more significant losses – a decline of more than 80%, and that later, in the same year, the volume of bookings on the platform fell by 91%. The company’s CEO, Glenn Fogel, foresaw that the recovery would take many years, and he had to propose significant changes, including cutting 25% of employees (Menze, 2020a). The response to such severe consequences as the pandemic brought requires decisive measures from companies.

Booking.com’s response to the pandemic included concern about the interests of users. The company introduced a force majeure policy, expecting its partners to reimburse users or provide opportunities in the future to use paid services (Miguel et al., 2022). Meeting the target audience’s needs is an essential part of success in today’s world. Since another major short-term rental player, Airbnb, also prioritized customers, the industry had to adapt to the actions of this company and Booking.com (Miguel et al., 2022). Even in adverse circumstances, the company protected its users and influenced its colleagues.

Conclusion

Thus, the pandemic COVID-19 changed all economic activity and significantly strongly affected tourism and hospitality. As the coronavirus forced many restrictions to ensure people’s safety, travel fell, reducing tourists’ activity and lowering the companies core revenues. Many researchers have concluded that the pandemic will lead to a shift in the industry. Signs of change are already manifesting themselves, including in activities Booking.com. It is one of the biggest and most influential companies in the industry. Its activities aim to establish ties with organizations providing accommodation and offering these capabilities to platform users Booking.com. As this company’s example shows, industry representatives are introducing more technological changes and adapting to new tourist preferences – more ecological and safe routes. Finding new opportunities for development and taking care of the interests of its users helps them maintain activities.

References

About Booking.com™. (n.d.). Booking.com. Web.

Aldao, C., Blasco, D., Poch Espallargas, M., & Palou Rubio, S. (2021). Modelling the crisis management and impacts of 21st century disruptive events in tourism: The case of the COVID-19 pandemic”, Tourism Review, 76(4), 929-941. Web.

Forman, L. (2022). Booking Holdings shareholders need a staycation.The Wall Street Journal. Web.

Gössling, S., & Schweiggart, N. (2022). Two years of COVID-19 and tourism: what we learned, and what we should have learned.Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(4), 915-931. Web.

Jong, M. C., Puah, C. H., & Soh, A. N. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic and commodities prices on Booking. com share price.Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal, 6(2), 185-189. Web.

Menze, L. (2020a). Booking Holdings feels “full impact” of coronavirus as gross bookings plunge 91% in Q2 2020. PhocusWire. Web.

Menze, L. (2020b). Booking Holdings sees uptick in Q3 bookings driven by domestic travel. PhocusWire. Web.

Miguel, C., Pechurina, A., Kirkulak-Uludag, B., Drotarova, M. H., Dumančić, K., Braje, I. N., & Giglio, C. (2022). Short-term rental market crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic: Stakeholders’ perspectives.International Journal of Hospitality Management, 102, 1-11. Web.

Salas-Paramo, J., Escandon-Barbosa, D., & Munoz, A. (2021). Changes in lifestyle preferences in tourism and their impact in the consumer satisfaction experience under pandemic conditions.International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 25, 1-6. Web.

Schaal, D. (2020). Booking Holdings sees first signs of changing traveler behavior brought on by pandemic. Skift. Web.

Shivdas, S. (2021). Booking shines on travel rebound, COVID in Europe casts doubts on holiday demand. Reuters. Web.

The pandemic effect: Booking.com reveals an increased desire to travel more sustainably. (2021). Booking.com. Web.

Yang, Y., Zhang, C. X., & Rickly, J. M. (2021). A review of early COVID-19 research in tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research‘s curated collection on coronavirus and tourism.Annals of Tourism Research, 91, 2-17. Web.

Problem Statement

Every day, many people across the United States are being tested for coronavirus diseases. Many healthcare facilities have to send COVID results to a patient portal manually. Unfortunately, these results may take days to obtain since many facilities are short-staffed and thus patients may take up to 10 days to receive their results. Once received, users usually print results through the patient portal or take a screenshot. Results on paper can easily get misplaced, and pictures from a person’s phone may become stolen and edited with someone else’s name, which causes a security issue.

The problem is that there is currently no mobile app that gives people easy access to their COVID results and proof of the COVID vaccination. This problem affects people who have taken the COVID test. More specifically, those who need to travel, go to work, or school because instructions indicate they must quarantine until they receive their results. It also affects those that need proof to attend an event.

This app will be beneficial because it will be a less time-consuming way to get a hold of your results. When traveling, this can make the process easier. This app can also be useful to other companies and establishments that would prefer to see negative COVID results or proof of the vaccination before entering the compound. Difficulties when implementing the app include security and compliance as there will be a significant amount of sensitive information on the app, which can be a target for many cybercriminals. HIPPA is a compliance issue because of the sensitive information included within the app. The mobile application would be free to all users.

Significance of the Problem

Paper vaccination certificates are among the tools that have stayed persistent for over a century from their initial development by the health agencies. During the 1880s smallpox pandemic, several learning institutions required students and teachers to present vaccination cards (Esparza et al., 2020). The World Health Organization introduced the yellow card, which was an international travel certificate during the 1960 yellow fever pandemic (Ardila, 2019). Travelers presently still need to carry their cards in some situations.

Many countries across the world, including the United States, are currently distributing vaccines for the COVID-19 virus. A majority of states would require an entry ticket which would be appropriate if it exists in the digital state. Numerous airlines, such as the United, JetBlue, and Lufthansa, would experience effective operation with the use of the app for verifying the passenger’s virus examination outcomes and vaccination (Ardila, 2019). The proposed app is likely to be essential to employers, schools, holiday camps, and entertainment centers. The app will improve the containment measures of the spread and control of the virus.

The development of the electronic vaccination and the testing app would positively affect the strategies to control the COVID-19 pandemic while also enhancing the economic restoration. The app would initiate the reopening of learning institutions, such as schools, colleges, and universities. A majority of consumers would also have peace of mind since the app would introduce an easy method for such areas as ships, sports grounds, and movie halls to permit entry to only the individuals who have received the coronavirus vaccination.

The marketability of the app would likely be difficult for various groups of society. There would be disparities in the level of adoption of the app, particularly among the people with limited access to online verification systems to travel to their preferred places. Other groups, such as the Civil liberties professionals, have an opinion that the innovation would establish an intrusive platform of social manipulation from the private actors, such as hotels, who would decide on individuals’ accessibility to their facilities. Therefore, introducing the app would enhance economic recovery among other benefits despite the minor challenges related to the system.

Implementation and Plausibility of the Project

The implementation of the project may face various challenges. According to scholars and practitioners, healthcare technologies, such as the vaccine app, create a potential threat to privacy because such devices can substantially enlarge amounts of personally identifiable information about a patient (Paglialonga et al., 2019). The program creates anxiety about the right of individuals to frequent surveillance (Paglialonga et al., 2019). However, the establishment of the project may sound ironic to some members of society who would feel excluded. It would be more appropriate to focus on the equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines in most parts of the world before investing in how to use an app to confirm the vaccination status of some individuals.

Overview of the Solution

The proposed solution for this issue would be to create a mobile application that would allow users to have easy access to their COVID results and proof of the COVID vaccination. The app will be simple and show whether you tested negative or positive for the Coronavirus. As for proof of the vaccine, it will show up on the app like the vaccination card you received onsite. The app will be available for all android devices.

Solution Application of the Vaccination App

The effective use of the app would first require integration into the existing system through sensitization of the health care professionals and clients on how to access the coronavirus-related data. The app will undergo tests for several aspects including features of the users, device abilities, education standards, and the age of the clients (Lins et al., 2019). These steps would then pave the way for the total adoption of the app after reliable outcomes from the pilot study.

References

Ardila, J. P. C. (2019). Facilitating automated compliance checking in the safety-critical context.Electronic Communications of the EASST, 78, 1-20.

Esparza, J., Lederman, S., Nitsche, A., & Damaso, C. R. (2020). Early smallpox vaccine manufacturing in the United States: introduction of the “animal vaccine” in 1870, establishment of “vaccine farms”, and the beginnings of the vaccine industry. Vaccine, 38(30), 4773-4779.

Lins, S., Schneider, S., Szefer, J., Ibraheem, S., & Sunyaev, A. (2019). Designing monitoring systems for continuous certification of cloud services: Deriving meta-requirements and design guidelines.Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 44(1), 25.

Paglialonga, A., Pinciroli, F., & Tognola, G. (2019). Apps for hearing healthcare: trends, challenges, and potential opportunities. In E. Saunders (Ed.), Tele-Audiology and the optimization of hearing healthcare delivery (pp. 161-195). IGI Global.

It is possible to state that the suggested Covid-19 registry can positively impact clinical effectiveness and improve action plans. The rationale behind this statement is that the registry can reveal a connection between treatment procedures and patients’ health outcomes. Thus, the hospital will determine the best approach to treat coronavirus. The registry can also demonstrate whether there is a link between a level of care and sequela diagnoses in the future. All this information can lead to the emergence of effective action plans.

In the Lewis-Beck Medical center, predictive data analytics can improve patient diagnosis and treatment. This approach implies that historical data is analyzed to identify patterns and predict some processes in the future (Chapter 3, n.d.). The scenario under analysis can also benefit from this approach because the latter can help forecast, for example, ventilator and COVID-19 testing demand. If predictions are true, the facility will have sufficient equipment to provide all patients with care.

A data governance plan is required when the registry deals with the expansion of data collection and sharing. Such a plan treats information as a valuable asset, which denotes that specific controls and metrics are utilized to ensure that the registry functions appropriately. When the system starts dealing with extended volumes of data, the importance of this intervention increases. On the one hand, the plan makes it convenient to process and interpret the available data. On the other hand, its implementation ensures that the facility will deal with high-quality information. Furthermore, it is worth admitting that the advantages highlighted in the given discussion post can only be achieved if the facility manages to deal with data of the highest quality.

Reference

Chapter 3. (n.d.). Introduction to databases and data analytics [PDF document].

Introduction

Play is essential for early children’s development, especially for five-year-olds, since they interact and engage with the world around them. Previous research has shown that children’s engagement in free play is crucial to development because it contributes to their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional growth (Ginsburg, 2007). Despite the benefits derived from free play for children, time for free play has been reduced for many children during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been postulated that children’s play was affected during the COVID-19, not only regarding the time children spent playing but also the qualitative characteristics (Kourti et al., 2021). Therefore, the study’s research question is, “how has increased exposure to screens during Covid-19 impacted preschoolers’ engagement in free play?”

The study has three sub-questions that build on the main query. The first is “What does free play mean for 5- to 6-year-old children in Saudi Arabia?” The next sub-question is “to what extent is there a correlation between increased screen time during COVID and changes in play? “The final is “to what extent is there a correlation between increased screen time during COVID and changes in learning development?” Additionally, the study has four explicitly related aims to its purposes. First, to determine how exposure to screens has impacted preschoolers’ engagement in free play in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the investigation seeks to suggest strategies through which parents can help minimize preschooler’s screen interactions. The next aim is to identify how parents perceive the effect of increased screen time on their relationship with their children. The final objective is to suggest new techno-efficiency and interactivity for positive parenthood.

Design and Methodology

The exploratory design is to be used in the study where the qualitative phase of the study will first be conducted. After that, the second phase of the scheme, which will collect quantitative data using surveys, will be done. The reason why exploratory design shall be the preferred method is because there is no previous research of such nature conducted in Saudi Arabia. Both of the stages of the study will incorporate the use of online platforms and surveys to reach to the participants. The reason why this design will be used is that it is known to provide conclusive data on the many issues. Since this research design is a two-step, first the question addressing if the screen exposure has increased due to the pandemic, is the basic assumption. Thus, if this fact is proved to be accurate, then the question of how it has affected the student’s engagement in play will be studied.

The design method will be made feasible by the fact that only a few numbers of interviews will be done in the first phase. The data in the initial stage will be collected and analyzed, and the findings recorded. The second phase of the design shall then build onto the data gathered in phase one of the study. Thus, this design and methodology aim to collect quantitative information about the topic and then collect qualitative data that explains the quantifiable information further.

The First Phase of the Study

The participants will be grouped into three different categories as this will help later in the analysis phase. The first group of participants for the quantitative phase will be educators in Jizan, a coastal city in Saudi Arabia. The second group will be the educators of Kindergarteners in the same area focusing on slightly older children aged 5 to 6 years. The final group of participants will be parents of the kids who were known to have spent more time on the screen in the pre-COVID-19 times. This target group shall be reached through interviews where a total (n = 20 participants) will be interviewed for each category, making it 60 the number of interviews. The participants who shall be interviewed will be selected from all city corners using convenience sampling.

Since the study will aim to understand trends and get a more extensive picture, surveys will be preferred over questionnaires for the research. Surveys are known to dig deeper into a topic than questionnaires are used to reach pre-informed conclusions (Spiegelman, 2020). The purpose of this research design is to measure the strength of the relationship between the two variables. Since the two variables cannot be manipulated willingly for the experiment, the researchers shall observe the results and design conclusions. This research design is to be used because of its feasibility, especially when dealing with real-life situations, as is the case under the study. It is also expected that a causal relationship will be established in the research. Since the study aims at establishing a new techno-efficient way to enhance parenthood, this design should be used because of its efficiency in analyzing new tools.

For an individual to understand how increased exposure to screens during the Covid-19 has impacted children’s engagement in free play, the following process shall be used. First, previous predictions will be collected and recorded in an open science framework system to enhance data visualization. Previous assumptions on the topic will also be addressed, including the belief that most children in Saudi Arabia have ready access to a television, phone, or computer. The participants for the study shall include parents and educators who deal with these children. The study shall use contributors from different cities within the kingdom. The participants will be recruited using other methods, and social media is expected to bring in more participants than face-to-face recruitment. Face and content validity will be used to examine the quality of questions in the surveys, and the questions that do not meet the required criteria shall be removed.

The Second Phase of the Study

In the qualitative stage, how increased exposure to screens has impacted pre-schoolers’ engagement in free play shall be sought and answered. In this phase surveys will be conducted in all major cities in the country. The surveys in this session shall be conducted throughout the region where each respondent will be asked same questions such as what free play means to the children of Saudi Arabia. Surveys are best when trying to get insights on a pre-determined group of people and are particularly good in explaining qualitative data (Creswell & Hirose 2019). Surveys can be conducted in many ways including methods such as social networks, emails and QR can also be used (Ikart, 2019; Siraj-Blatchford, 2020). All these methods shall be used across different towns in order to add depth to the quantitative data recorded in the first phase. The qualitative changes, including the children’s learning curve before and during the pandemic, shall be surveyed. The educators and parents will have to answer how the children’s quality of play has changed since lockdown restrictions were introduced. Questions like where their children play, whether indoors or outside, will be in the surveys.

The design of the questions in this second phase shall seek to understand how the pandemic negatively impacted the child’s cognitive and physical growth. The response sought out by this phase of the study will elicit a more in-depth response by both the parents and the educators on how the pandemic has influenced the children under this study. These questions shall also be follow-up queries common in interviews, making them fit the definition of a survey. For example, if the respondents answer yes, screen exposure time has increased for the children, then the following question would be (“if yes, what mitigation measures do you think should be taken?” “If no, ignore”). This complexity may confuse the participants, but it will be assumed that all the respondents were well learned and shall understand the online survey perfectly.

In order to solve the issue of confusing surveys in qualitative research, interviews will be conducted with the researcher advised on some specific aspects to consider. Freedom of letting the interview flow in the direction that the participant wanted will be granted. The researchers shall question all possible qualitative aspects of the topic, and freedom for creativity will be granted whenever an unpredicted turn occurs as experts will be requested to conduct analyses concurrently with the questioning. The interviewers will then give their forms to fill out after the surveys are done. This phase will mainly purpose in explaining the results obtained in the first phase. Confidentiality of the respondents will be maintained in both stages of the study.

Data Analysis

The study will first analyze data using information from the quantitative data survey forms. The dependent variables, which are the number of hours that the students spend under the exposure of the screen (0 to 24), will be filled in for the COVID-19 times and pre-COVID times. The number of hours used for free play (0-24) before and after the pandemic was also filled in for analysis. The age of the children under investigation will be divided into two groups (preschoolers and Kindergarteners) and are to be analyzed separately. The genders of the young children whom the parents and the educators deal with were also recorded. Other quantitative aspects recorded for analysis were the number of siblings a child has, and the number of devices available to the child too will be considered.

While doing the analysis, only the number of hours spent on the screen will be used to predict the time children spend on free play. An increase in a child’s screen time is expected to directly correlate to the number of hours spent on the child’s free play. The degree of grammatical and vocal development will be a qualitative aspect used to confirm the effects of increased screen time. This blue light time is likely to be significantly higher before the lockdowns than during the lockdown. All the data gathered quantitively will be entered in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for analysis (SPSS). The means, medians, mode, percentages, significance levels, frequencies, and graphs will be generated and analyzed. A statistical significance of P<0.05 shall be set for the analysis.

Project Significance

It has long been agreed that increased screen time is likely to negatively influence people of all ages. However, research on increased screen time on preschoolers aged 5 to 6 years has been limited. This need has made it necessary to research the same in a place where such studies are not typical and crucial such as Saudi Arabia. This research will prove that free play for children improves them in many aspects, including their physical and cognitive abilities. This confirms previous studies on the significance of free play for children of different ages i.e. (Tortella et al., 2019). Studies have shown that children are exposed to screens as early as three months, and the level of exposure to screens continues to increase with age (Bergmann et al., 2022). The project revealed that with this increase comes other negative consequences, such as slowed learning ability. The previous literature that parents felt increased screen time reduced the time they had for interaction between them, and their children will be confirmed.

The parents can use the results of this study to know that even though children are encouraged to adopt new means of learning, over-exposing this age group to screen time may yield negative consequences. Educators who come across this study know that free play has numerous benefits for preschoolers; thus, they should always incorporate free playtime into the school timetables. Screen time is more for children with elder siblings; thus, a mode of interaction that benefits both should be encouraged by the caretakers. New technologies also need to be absorbed with much care to avoid hurting this vulnerable group. The community should learn that for maximum development of its children, systems should be set up to encourage children to meet and play together. Encouraging increased free play will also automatically reduce screen time. Thus the negative reputations associated with overexposure to screens, such as eye problems in the later phases, will not be encountered.

Contribution to Knowledge

There has been controversial literature on the actual effects of increased screen times on children and even adults. Studies before the pandemic revealed that increased screen time contributed to numerous adverse effects on the students, including obesity, depression, and poor performance, among other problems (Adelantado-Renau et al., 2019; Fang et al., 2019). When the pandemic and the lockdowns came, the body of literature concerning the topic increased rapidly, primarily due to the controversies associated with remote and online learning. Upon realizing the effects of screen time, some governments, including the Saudi Arabian government, introduced restrictions on the number of online schooling times per day (Zahedi et al., 2021). However, critics and a large body of literature argued that such recommendations lacked a valid basis and no direct correlation could be identified between increased screen time and the said adverse effects (Dienlin & Johannes, 2020; Odgers & Jensen, 2020). These differences necessitated a conclusive study to show if there were some negative effects that online learning could bring to children.

It was assumed before that the COVID-19 pandemic increased screen exposure among children. Nonetheless, this study, to avoid any criticism, will start by first issuing questionnaires that would help ascertain this fact. Both parents and educators or preschoolers will prove that the screen time significantly increased when the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in Saudi Arabia. This confirms most previous studies on the issue that have agreed that screen time increased after the lockdowns were introduced (Pandya & Lodha, 2021; Wiederhold, 2020). With that increase confirmed, the study then will go further to determine if there is any correlation between increased screen time and changes in child play. Previously, it was known that increased screen time resulted in increased chances for zBMI for six-year-olds, even if the children played outside (Schwarzfischer et al., 2020). However, the effect of this time on screens had not been analyzed if it caused the reduction of hours spent playing outside. This study will prove more periods on the gadgets meant fewer hours of free play, meaning the disadvantages of insufficient free play could indirectly be contributed by increased screen time.

In the eastern countries of the world, especially the middle east, studies have been more focused on the effects of addictive media on the youth but never on the children. A study in China proved that children, just like youth, are very vulnerable to the media (Xie et al., 2020). The study results in China were confirmed by the responses given in the questionnaires, which greed that children were likely to extend the time spent online after regular learning time was exhausted. Therefore, the caretakers have to be careful about the extent of exposure they allow their children to have on the screens. For some guardians, though, a good explanation as to why they should restrict their child times screen exposure to less than an hour and increase their free play has to be given. Fleer (2013) would give the best answer to this where it is argued that a child’s direct interaction with the environment is a significant contributor to their social-emotional development. This study will conform to the body of knowledge by confirming that children exposed to more screen time had a slower mental and physical growth.

It is no doubt that children are less likely to play when alone than when in a group. Having children in a community playing together could result in reduced screen time. This would serve two purposes; first, bringing the advantages associated with free play, and second, mitigating the disadvantages associated with increased screen time. As earlier stated, the two variables are interdependent; therefore, as one reduces, the other increases. Therefore, some diseases such as zBMI caused by increased screen exposure may be reduced by free play.

This study will also seek to understand how various qualitative aspects of play have been affected by the pandemic. Ginsburg (2007) extrapolated the importance of children playing regularly to their development. Kourti et al. (2021) further demonstrated how reduced screen time increases not only their play hours but also their play quality. This study shall prove that for the Saudi Arabian children, the lack of good quality play catalyzed by home restrictions by the government has also contributed to the negative effects seen on the learning of children since the pandemic started. When the children are faced with an option between choosing poor quality play confined indoors and interacting with the highly addictive gadgets, they often choose the screens, as parents and educators stated in the questionnaires. Thus, this study will confirm the existing literature that poor quality play has negative impacts on 5- to 6-year-olds.

A relationship between socio-demographic factors such as the child’s age and gender to the level of exposure to screen time should be analyzed. No relationship is expected between a child who is five years old and those six years. Similarly, there is no difference in exposure between the boys and girls in this study. A distinction shall be established in social classes as children living in less developed parts of the country are more exposed to screen time than those living in rural areas. It will also be observed that parents exposed to more screen time had children who were also more exposed. This finding signifies those parents and educators could actively control this negative trait by avoiding screen exposure, which would also benefit them. The argument mentioned above that by making the devices hard to obtain, the children will have lesser time to engage with them, and more time to play outside will also be proved.

Screen exposure on children has been widely studied and documented in the recent past. The level and degree of the effects are often controversial. Therefore, conclusive research of single correlations and results would be more beneficial. This study aims to see if there was any chance that this screen exposure could influence free play. By having the question of the meaning of the free play and how beneficial it is to the growth and development of a child, the study will ensure that future studies could focus on means of providing good quality free play. By proving that there is a direct negative correlation between screen time and free play, it will be discovered that reducing one may increase the other. Finally, by checking the extent to which screen time has changed learning development, parents and educators will know that more time on the phone could mean less intelligence for the child.

Conclusion

Increased exposure to screen time could negatively influence free play for children in preschool in all Saudi Arabian provinces. A strong negative correlation between the two variables will be established in this study. These two factors cause numerous disadvantages to the children; hence parents are advised to use the recommendations that will be suggested and elsewhere to reduce these effects. Further, researchers should use the will be given to find better ways to reduce screen time while still maintaining the benefits that come with the communications devices. However, from this study, it will be shown that lowering screen time will increase free play to a degree.

References

Adelantado-Renau, M., Moliner-Urdiales, D., Cavero-Redondo, I., Beltran-Valls, M. R., Martínez-Vizcaíno, V., & Álvarez-Bueno, C. (2019). Association between screen media use and academic performance among children and adolescents.JAMA Pediatrics, 173(11). Web.

Bergmann, C., Dimitrova, N., Alaslani, K., Almohammadi, A., Alroqi, H., Aussems, S., Barokova, M., Davies, C., Gonzalez-Gomez, N., Gibson, S. P., Havron, N., Horowitz-Kraus, T., Kanero, J., Kartushina, N., Keller, C., Mayor, J., Mundry, R., Shinskey, J., & Mani, N. (2022). Young children’s screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries.Scientific Reports, 12(1), 2015. Web.

Creswell, J. W., & Hirose, M. (2019). Mixed methods and survey research in family medicine and community health.Family Medicine and Community Health, 7(2). Web.

Dienlin, T. (2020). The impact of digital technology use on adolescent wellbeing.Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 22(2), 135–142. Web.

Fang, K., Mu, M., Liu, K., & He, Y. (2019). Screen time and childhood overweight/obesity: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Child: Care, Health and Development, 45(5), 744–753. Web.

Fleer, M. (2013). Collective imagining in play. In Children’s Play and Development (pp. 73-87). Springer, Dordrecht. Web.

Ginsburg, K. R. (2007). The importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bonds.Pediatrics, 119(1), 182-191. Web.

Siraj-Blatchford, J. (2020). Surveys and questionnaires: An evaluative case study. In Doing early childhood research (pp. 223-238). Routledge.

Survey questionnaire survey pretesting method: An evaluation of survey questionnaire via expert reviews technique.Asian Journal of Social Science Studies, 4(2), 1. Web.

Kourti, A., Stavridou, A., Panagouli, E., Psaltopoulou, T., Spiliopoulou, C., Tsolia, M., Sergenternis, T. N., & Tsitsika, A. (2021). Domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence, & abuse, 15248380211038690. Web.

Pandya, A., & Lodha, P. (2021). Social connectedness, excessive screen time during COVID-19 and mental health: A review of current evidence.Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 3(684137). Web.

Schwarzfischer, P., Gruszfeld, D., Socha, P., Luque, V., Closa-Monasterolo, R., Rousseaux, D., Moretti, M., ReDionigi, A., Verduci, E., Koletzko, B., & Grote, V. (2020). Effects of screen time and playing outside on anthropometric measures in preschool-aged children. Plus One, 15(3), e0229708. Web.

Spiegelman, M. T. (2020). Design and Effectiveness of Multimodal Definitions in Online Surveys (Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park. Web.

Tortella, P., Haga, M., Ingebrigtsen, J. E., Fumagalli, G. F., & Sigmundsson, H. (2019). Comparing free play and partly structured play in 4-5-years-old children in an outdoor playground.Frontiers in Public Health, 7. Web.

Wiederhold, B. K. (2020). Children’s screen time during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Boundaries and etiquette.Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 23(6), 359-360. Web.

Xie, G., Deng, Q., Cao, J., & Chang, Q. (2020). Digital screen time and its effect on preschoolers’ behavior in China: Results from a cross-sectional study.Italian Journal of Pediatrics, 46(1), 1-7. Web.

Zahedi, S., Jaffer, R., & Iyer, A. (2021). A systematic review of screen-time literature to inform educational policy and practice during COVID-19.International Journal of Educational Research Open, 100094. Web.

Nicki Minaj Recent COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Effects Tweets

It is safe to say that over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has become the hottest topic not only in the medical community of the United States (US) but also in American politics. Recently, on September 14, one of the most popular singers today, Nicki Minaj, tweeted that taking the vaccine caused her cousin’s friend severe adverse effects, one of which was impotence that ruined his upcoming wedding (Reuters). This and the subsequent series of tweets sparked a heated discussion on Twitter between her followers and other users and attracted the attention of the authorities of several countries. The Biden administration invited the celebrity to the White House to discuss in detail various aspects of COVID-19 and existing vaccines with senior US health officials (Saad). Trinidad and Tobago Health Ministry officials said Minaj’s claims were untrue and misleading (Aratani). United Kingdom top ranks also discussed Nicki’s tweets in one of their recent coronavirus briefings (Newsbeat). They said the celebrity’s words are not accurate and have no scientific basis.

Nicki Minaj Tweets Impact on the American Society

Nowadays, coronavirus and vaccination have become topics that link together various societal spheres and groups that were previously unrelated to each other. The case of Nicki Minaj’s tweets shows that global authorities are closely monitoring what is happening in the online space and the media landscape, especially in times of crisis. As they should, because the careless words of a celebrity can undermine the ongoing vaccinations in the US and other countries, Nicki Minaj’s claims may raise skepticism about vaccines in the US male population. The male population has been more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than the women, and the worsening situation is what Americans as a society cannot allow themselves. According to Ungar, “more women than men are getting covid vaccines, even as more men are dying of the disease.” Misinformation, even if it was unintentional, cost lives in the current age of information and data.

Personal Opinion

I believe that Nicki Minaj has every right to publicly express her skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines and discuss it with her audience and other public figures. However, people should not blindly follow their favorite celebrities just as they should not completely trust the government; making their own opinion based on facts from both sides and personal analysis is the right way. I chose this event precisely because of the sudden backlash it caused from government officials and the different social classes that these tweets brought together. The COVID-19 case of Nicki Minaj’s tweets shows that the world is becoming an increasingly interconnected and interrelated place, and any public action can lead to unexpected reactions. I will be following what happens next because it will be interesting to see if her opinion about vaccines changes after visiting the White House.

Questions to the Audience

It is obvious that recent Nicki’s tweets made some people, especially among her fans, turn their backs on COVID-19 vaccines. In your opinion, is the public expression of this kind of personal opinion worth the harm it can do to public health?

The invitation to the discussion in the White House was a surprising move from the US government, but this is how they interact with society today using online innovations. However, is such high interactivity and openness worth the monitoring capabilities that modern digital technologies give to the government?

Works Cited

Aratani, Lauren. “Nicki Minaj claim that Covid vaccine can cause impotence dismissed by Trinidad and Tobago.”The Guardian, 2021.

Newsbeat. “Nicki Minaj swollen testicles claim ‘wasted’ Trinidad health officials’ time.”BBC, 2021.

Reuters. “Nicki Minaj’s Covid-19 vaccine ‘swollen testicles’ claim is false, says Trinidad health minister.”CNN, 2021.

Saad, Nardine. “White House clarifies why Nicki Minaj was invited to discuss vaccine safety.”Los Angeles Times, 2021.

Ungar, Laura. “More women than men getting coronavirus vaccines.”USA Today, 2021.

The Texas Tribune has recently published an article on the government mandates on COVID-19 vaccine bans by the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott regarding COVID 19 vaccines. In particular, the article notes that the Governor has announced an executive order that prohibits any government entities to “compelling any individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine” (Svitek, 2021, para. 5). An exception to this order is nursing homes, as well as state-supported living centers. Additionally, Abbott urged lawmakers to develop appropriate legislation to govern the functioning of state and federal vaccine mandates. This order was issued shortly after the approval of the Phizer vaccine by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Governor also specifically emphasized that private businesses and public entities receiving private funding cannot require an individual to confirm vaccination to receive services, although it was already banned by the state law. However, this order does not affect the requirements that private entities may establish regarding the vaccination of their employees. In this regard, some independent institutions are already criticizing the mandates banning of the Governor, as they are convinced that “the safest path forward… is for all staff to become vaccinated” (Svitek, 2021, para. 14). Governor Abbott has previously resisted forced vaccinations and the wearing of personal protective equipment, which sparked widespread resentment. In this context, there is a rapid increase in infections in Texas, and the percentage of the population vaccinated is less than half (Svitek, 2021). Many believe that the approval of the vaccine could help accelerate the rate of vaccination among Texans, and the Abbott order is having a negative impact on the epidemiological situation.

Governor Greg Abbott is a member of the Republican Party, which in part explains his views on the situation. In particular, in the context of the global pandemic, the Governor focuses on the personal choice of people, saving them from mandatory vaccination. This step can encourage people to be more responsible in assessing facts and making decisions. On the other hand, this strategy threatens the well-being of the whole society and attracts widespread criticism, which also negatively affects the attitude of the population towards the Governor.

The banning of mandates exclusively affects government entities, which supports the right of people to receive a variety of public services. A ban on visiting any institution without proof of vaccination may become an act of segregation. In this situation, Abbott, in my opinion, is taking the right direction since he emphasizes the equality of all citizens, regardless of their position on vaccination. Private entities can still independently regulate their policies regarding the need for proof of vaccination, which also preserves their rights to self-government.

The situation described in the article is still extremely controversial since it contains a discrepancy between individual and social values. However, Abbott, as any other official, is a person who may have convictions of his own, which he sees as good for society. Although the statistics given in the conclusion of the article suggest that he should reconsider the course of his actions, it is also possible that he is looking for his solution. I think there is a need for diversity in the world, which is also expressed by unpopular points of view as Governor Abbott’s. At the same time, it is difficult at the moment to assess how dramatic the consequences of such a polarity can be.

Reference

Svitek, P. (2021). Gov. Greg Abbott bans government mandates on COVID-19 vaccines regardless of whether they have full FDA approval. The Texas Tribune.

Introduction

Over the past years, one of the most controversial topics has been and remains the problem of COVID-19 prevention, affecting the system of human values, the interests of individuals and society as a whole. From the point of view of scientific progress, vaccine prevention can serve as a real confirmation of the implementation of scientific discoveries into healthcare practice. One of the important social tasks of the state is to protect the health, the interests and rights of the most vulnerable categories of citizens, including people from COVID-19 risk groups. At the same time, to be consistent with human choice rights, vaccination must be a personal, informed choice.

Vaccination

Vaccination rightly symbolizes one of the biggest successes in global public health practice. To illustrate the above, it suffices to mention the reduction in the level of epidemic danger of preventable infections, the eradication of smallpox in the world, significant progress in the elimination of poliomyelitis and measles, and the prevention of serious consequences associated with infections. The huge humanitarian and economic contribution to the development of world civilization is proven (Ding et al., 2021). Nevertheless, not only the history of the introduction of vaccination into the arsenal of means of fighting infections is questioned. At the same time, the current realities, which take place at the peak of achievements in the preventive use of vaccines, are not free from ethical conflicts. Therefore, it is constantly required to search for ways of their moral and legal regulation.

Most Concerning Issues

One of the most concerning from an ethical point of view is the stage of testing and introducing new vaccines into public health practice. At this stage, the complex of ethical challenges covers all areas of moral and regulatory regulation of the process of researching new drugs, both from the point of view of national and international clinical research practice. As a standard, vaccines undergo years of research and must meet strict standards of safety and efficacy (Hadjipanayis et al., 2020). In the case of the COVID-19 global pandemic, vaccines were implemented urgently.

The process of developing and researching vaccines must be a long process involving many experts from a variety of scientific and social disciplines. In addition, disciplines and areas of activity related to the interests of public health authorities and pharmaceutical companies are affected. The ethical debate also covers a wide range of vaccine introduction and promotion processes. Such issues include the organization of preventive measures related to vaccination in a planned manner and conditions in emergency situations and the introduction of mandatory vaccination.

The other concerning issue of achieving the mandate of vaccination from a professional and ethical point of view cannot be considered without understanding the social essence of this phenomenon. This position, in turn, implies recognition of political, socio-economic, ideological, philosophical and cultural influences on the vaccination process. In this regard, the coverage of the vaccination process and its effectiveness can be achieved in each country, considering the above-mentioned operating characteristics (Hadjipanayis et al., 2020). At the global level, achieving the vaccination mandate requires agreement and compromise on a number of fronts. This includes the inclusion of ethical mechanisms to prevent social risks.

Vaccination Education

Taking into account the ethical component is of fundamental importance for ensuring the protection of the population from infectious diseases through vaccination. The critical nature of the situation associated with the development of the anti-vaccination movement requires an examination of the ideological and logistical factors of disagreement and protest (Yeh, 2022). In the future, a platform of objective knowledge and public support that is accessible to understanding and acceptance by various contingents should be formed.

Another ethically significant mechanism for realizing the vaccination mandate is building new relationships with civil society. First of all, relationships should be built by building reasonable trust in the healthcare system based on open dialogue, and truthful and accessible information. As a CEO, I would suggest that every state must be responsible for its actions and accountable to society. Most countries legislate the freedom of human rights. Forced vaccination did not reconcile with the right to choose. The best approach is to provide people with complete and truthful information about vaccination’s benefits and possible harms. Additionally, it is important that the healthcare system inspires confidence and understanding on the part of citizens (Giubilini, 2021). This will create an informed society that will independently make decisions based on the factors provided.

Conclusion

In conclusion, vaccination is an effective way to combat the COVID-19 virus. At the same time, each of the countries adopts different policies to motivate people to get vaccinated. In some countries of the world, the vaccine has become a mandatory criterion. The best option is to provide the public with full information about the vaccine’s possible benefits and negative effects. At the same time, each person should be able to independently decide on the need for vaccination for himself and his or her close relatives. Building trust between citizens and the public health structure can be an incentive to increase the level of informed vaccination.

References

Ding, H., Xu, J. H., Wang, Z., Ren, Y. Z., & Cui, G. H. (2018). A subsidy strategy based on historical information can stimulate voluntary vaccination behaviors for seasonal diseases. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 503, 390-399. Web.

Giubilini, A. (2021). Vaccination ethics. British medical bulletin, 137(1), 4-12. Web.

Hadjipanayis, A., Dornbusch, H. J., Grossman, Z., Theophilou, L., & Brierley, J. (2020). Mandatory vaccination: a joint statement of the Ethics and Vaccination working groups of the European Academy of Paediatrics. European Journal of Pediatrics, 179(4), 683-687. Web.

Yeh, M. J. (2022). Solidarity in pandemics, Mandatory vaccination, and public health ethics. American Journal of Public Health, 112(2), 255-261. Web.

Personal Perception

Continued Influence of Misinformation in Times of COVID‐19 seemed important to me since misinformation has become one of the most powerful ways to influence the population’s consciousness, especially during such crises as a pandemic. The study proves that negative misinformation continues to impact even after it has been debunked. It is important to learn how to deal with misinformation by improving critical thinking skills. The authors again prove that misinformation is dangerous, especially in healthcare matters.

The Summary

The article explores the impact of correcting positive and negative misinformation about COVID‐19 on people. The first hypothesis was that the correction of misinformation affects the subsequent negative or positive perception of this information; that is, the effect of misinformation persists. The second hypothesis is that negative misinformation continues to affect the person while correcting positive misinformation removes its effects. The third hypothesis of the study states that people prone to overconfidence tend to be subject to a stronger misinformation effect. The study was conducted by interviewing four groups of people, each consisting of one hundred people. Two groups were given an article about a fictitious German hospital with the best record of fighting COVID‐19 in Western Europe. The two remaining groups were given articles naming the same fictional hospital as the hospital with the highest rates of deaths. Subsequently, two groups with negative and positive misinformation received a refutation, while the other two did not. After that, the participants received a survey that assessed their perception of the fictitious hospital.

The study proved the theory that negative misinformation continues to impact the recipient even after it has been debunked. The hypothesis that positive misinformation has less impact after rebuttal has not been confirmed. The effect of correcting positive misinformation was the opposite: respondents rated the fictitious hospital worse than before they learned about it at all. The third hypothesis was not confirmed as well: the level of self-confidence does not affect the perception of misinformation. However, the purity of the study, in this case, could be compromised since about a third of people with higher education participated in the survey, and, accordingly, the level of overconfidence was quite low (Van Huijstee et al., 2022). Theoretically, the study refers to previous works that explored the impact of disinformation. These studies have mostly discussed the impact of political misinformation.

The novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time, it examines the level of influence of denials on the perception of information about COVID‐19. Krause’s article on the importance of fact-checking during a crisis may be used to explore the topic further. According to the authors, disinformation can be considered one of the most important and independent risks, to which the results of decades of research in the field of risk communication should be applied (Krause et al., 2020). Indeed, in recent years, with the development of social networks, misinformation has become an extremely serious weapon that can change people’s morale and seriously affect the degree of awareness of choice.

The Individual Reflections

In my opinion, the article has an effective evidence base: the statistics are presented to make the thesis convincing. In addition, the article is relevant: the study of the impact of disinformation is important in the context of the functioning of society after a crisis. For me, this article raised the awareness that it is necessary to develop critical thinking skills to remain able to resist misinformation. I discovered an interesting topic for further research: the mental characteristics of the perception of negative information.

References

Krause, N. M., Freiling, I., Beets, B., & Brossard, D. (2020). Fact-checking as risk communication: the multi-layered risk of misinformation in times of COVID-19. Journal of Risk Research, 23(7-8), 1052-1059.

Van Huijstee, D., Vermeulen, I., Kerkhof, P., & Droog, E. (2022). The continued influence of misinformation in times of COVID‐19. International Journal of Psychology, 57(1), 136-145.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been mirrored by various conspiracy theories and misinformation regarding its origin, how it spreads, and the possible treatment. When the pandemic started, it was all over the media that 5G mobile networks were linked to the coronavirus. This led to the arson attacks on many network towers in Europe. It was said that the 5G had created the virus; thus, they needed to destroy the towers. However, this was not clear since COVID-19 was also said to have its origin in China Laboratories. I did not understand the link between the 5G networks and the coronavirus until I found other sources that indeed confirmed that the information I had received was inaccurate.

The article “Misinformation about COVID-19: Evidence for differential latent profiles and a strong association with trust in science” by Agley and Xiao in 2021 cleared my confusion. From their report, I learned that the link of the 5G network to coronavirus was just a conspiracy theory. It was disgusting how the networks that should be connecting people and helping others get the required information regarding the rampant spread of the pandemic was being destroyed without any valid ground.

I trusted the information from the article since it was a peer-reviewed journal. This proves that it was written by experts in the field of public health and reviewed before it was published. The article was also up to date, making its information reliable. The authors did not seem biased since they supported their research with other credible sources. Moreover, they give a list of conspiracy theories during the outbreak that greatly confused the public. Such proves that they had adequate information regarding the misinformation about COVID-19.

Reference

Agley, J., & Xiao, Y. (2021). Misinformation about COVID-19: Evidence for differential latent profiles and a strong association with trust in science.BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1-12.