Category: Pandemic

Coronavirus Pandemic

About

The Coronavirus pandemic has become the main reason for discussion in the new decade. This is not surprising  the microscopic virus has caused more than 320,000 deaths worldwide in a few months and 92,000 in the United States (Google News, n.d.). Many politicians around the world have forcefully imposed restrictive measures to prevent the virus from spreading. Nevertheless, the pandemic has demonstrated the inadequacy of the health system.

Economic Indicators

GDP

The primary macroeconomic indicator: shows the total cost of all services provided and products manufactured in the country.

Employment

An employment relationship with an employer that brings economic benefits: the high level indicates the degree of prosperity of society.

Unemployment

A high level reveals a lack of balance between job seekers and actual jobs. Could cause an economic crisis.

Well-Being

Not a real economic indicator, but what citizens feel is a subjective picture of how they perceive the economic situation.

The Pandemic Macroeconomy

GDP

It is evident that the decline in enterprises productivity, the closure of service centers, and social service delivery points will eventually lead to negative GDP indicators.

Employment

The restrictive regime has resulted in many workers being remotely accessed  this has created a technological evolution of existing software tools.

Unemployment

However, some of the employees have been fired or dismissed: this leads to an increase in the number of consumers against the background of a decline in the number of production facilities, which causes a social and economic crisis.

Well-Being

The U.S. economic system has shown a paradoxical effect  on the one hand, the available reserves allow for cash transfers to citizens, and on the other hand, the lack of effective investment in health has led to high mortality rates.

Business crisis

The enterprises were not prepared for the crisis: the branches are closed, the finances are not coming in, the working personnel is being reduced.

The effects of the microeconomic crisis can be summarized as follows:

• oproduction cuts;
• othe drop in prices;
• ojob cuts;
• othe growth in the number of bankrupt companies;
• oa sharp drop in wages.

Socio Economic

The Coronavirus pandemic has the potential to cause more socio-economic severe consequences. Poverty among the population is predicted to increase for the first time since 1998 (Mahler et al., 2020).

The crisis has shown the immaturity of the U.S. health care system  lack of planning and risk management, lack of financial stability to scale up the work of clinics.

It is interesting to note that the rules of hygiene during self-isolation have brought new values into societys life  the importance of health care, the possibility to limit social contacts, and visits public spaces.

Healthcare Organizations

WHO

Engaged in sponsoring research, public awareness, and laboratories. The main mouthpiece of the planet.

CDC

Less responsibility than WHO. However, CDC is accountable for monitoring and sharing information, resolving private situations, and transferring ambassadors and agents to hot spots.

Current Policies

Restrictive Measures

President Trump has introduced an emergency regime within the United States that involves the closure of public facilities, restaurants, parks, and beaches. This is a substantial measure, as many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of quarantine conditions to curb the rate of infection.

Cash Benefits and Financial Assistance

Trumps administration approved economic reform, according to which every American received more than $1,000 (Carney & Lane, 2020). This measure was aimed at stimulating the solvency of the population in the conditions of increasing unemployment in order to ensure the effective circulation of money in the market.

Easier Access to Hospital

The President urged U.S. medical organizations, including private ones, to provide free assistance in testing the population. The federal budget funds cover even the expenses of uninsured citizens (Abelson & Sanger-Katz, 2020).

Proposed Policies

Information program

Due to a lack of public awareness of the seriousness of the virus, protest movements have emerged. It would be best to refer to a policy of raising public awareness about hygiene, vaccination, and how the virus is spread.

Strict quarantine

Trump introduced quarantine measures in early March, but with time, when the disease rate was not yet declining, governors began opening cities. Obviously, these actions are dictated by economic goals. Nevertheless, when peoples lives are at stake, one can not bet on money. It is essential to return the quarantine or to ensure that all citizens observe preventive measures.

Socioeconomic Support

Field Tests

The creation of free mobile testing points could solve geographical distance problems from clinics, reducing the likelihood of social interaction.

Clinic Support

Often Americans go to private clinics because they are closer, more accessible, or provide better services. The authorities must help the private sector at this time.

Socioeconomic Barriers

Difficult to Inform

Inserting advertising banners, videos, and posts are effective for younger audiences, but older Americans do not trust the Internet. During the pandemic, it was not easy to organize training courses for retirees and to encourage them to be more sensitive to coronavirus news.

Cost of Treatment

Even with cash benefits, not all Americans can afford expensive treatment and prevention. Despite Trumps words, not all clinics provide free treatment. In addition, the daily purchase of gloves, masks, and disinfectants strongly affects citizens financial reserves.

Benefits for Healthcare Organizations

Increasing the Culture

First, broad public awareness will result in an improved scientifically proven culture, which will result in an improved nations health indicators.

Reducing the Burden on Clinics

Second, the strict quarantine will reduce the burden on health care organizations by allowing them to postpone to remain operational.

More Resources

Third, increased economic support from the state will give clinics more resources to implement successful and efficient medical care.

It is time to reevaluate achievements in the field of health and look at a new day. Our system has shortcomings, and the proposed policy will solve them!

References

Abelson, R., & Sanger-Katz, M. (2020). Trump says hospitals will be paid for treating uninsured coronavirus patients. The New York Times. Web.

Authers, J. (2020). Pandemic panic is natural. But try to resist it. Bloomberg Opinion. Web.

Beck, T. (n.d.). Whats the big deal? Experts unpack the coronavirus outbreak. Cal Alumni Association. Web.

Carney, J. & Lane, S. (2020). Cash assistance for Americans gains steam as coronavirus roils economy.The Hill. Web.

Chen, P.G.. (2020).Integrating behavioral health services into medical practices faces culture and financial barriers. Objective Analysis Effective Solutions. Web.

Coronavirus crisis lays bare the risks of financial leverage, again. (n.d.) Financial Times. Web.

Google News. (n.d.). Coronavirus (COVID-19) [Data set]. Web.

Mahler, D.G., Laknerr, C., Aguilar, A. C., Wu, H. (2020).The impact of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on global poverty: Why Sub-Saharan Africa might be the region hardest hit. WorldBankBlogs. Web.

Poll: Most Americans favour lockdowns to curb coronavirus. (2020) Aljazeera. Web.

Poon, L. & Holder, S. (2020). The new normal for many older adults is on the Internet.Bloomberg. Web.

Regan, H., Renton, A., McGee, L., & Wilkinson, P. (2020). Coronavirus pandemic: Updates from around the world.CNN World. Web.

Taylor, D. B. (2020). Is the coronavirus an epidemic or a pandemic? It depends on whos talking. The New York Times. Web.

Vembu, V. (2020). The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The Hindu Business Line. Web.

The problem of COVID-19 pandemic

One of the central problems that continues to affect the world order today significantly is the COVID-19 pandemic. Originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the coronavirus infection has forced national governments to impose social distance restrictions, ban air travel, and implement strict quarantine measures for the second year in a row. Although COVID-19 has weakened markedly with the emergence of the Omicron strain, its contagiousness has increased, causing the world to experience new pandemic waves once again. As such, the choice of this news topic is exciting to discuss, especially in light of our course content.

The current agenda

The current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic agenda is markedly different from what was relevant for 2020. Whereas early news reports focused on prevention advocacy and coverage of hospital bed shortages, the most recent news articles, by contrast, place COVID-19 in a socioeconomic and political framework to assess reciprocal impact. Meanwhile, the issue of vaccination as a mode of prevention has increasingly been explored by news portals in terms of civil rights and infringement of liberties. It may seem that a large number of people have either already been sickened or have lost their panicked fear of being infected, as they observe that the actual effects of COVID-19 are proving to be not as frightening as they seemed at the beginning of the pandemic. Thus, on the spectrum of coronavirus infection, the focus has clearly shifted from personal health and medical issues to topics of public welfare and civil rights recognition.

Ethical responsibility

Related to the aspects of personal social responsibility studied is an ethical responsibility for ones own actions. As bearers of moral values, people may do right or wrong, but in either case, they are responsible for their own actions. To see how this relates to the current topic, I suggest looking at the following short excerpt from a news summary.

PCR tests and antibody tests

Probably all of us have encountered PCR tests and antibody tests that do not inspire confidence. Such products may be sold in supermarkets and pharmacies, but they do not seem to be as reliable as lab tests. Ultimately, no airline will accept home test results as proof of health because such tests can be easily faked. Faking tests can be done by manufacturers to save money or by buyers to deceive the public: no matter, either way, it involves anti-morality. As the video says, a sick individual with a false-negative test can cause harm to others, which can lead to their death. Thus, this ethics of own reasoning in synthesis with personal responsibility also applies to the COVID-19 problem.

Importance of wearing masks

A news article from NBC News talks about how wearing masks can help in the fight against a pandemic. One of the sub-themes of this piece is the coverage of Americans anxiety and stress over the two-year pandemic and the strict necessity of wearing masks in connection with it (Edwards, 2022). Indeed, medical masks have already become part of the daily practice of people around the world, and a general rejection would mean victory over COVID-19. However, many individuals refuse to use personal protective equipment in favor of their personal needs. Because of this, incidentally, the number of scandals on airplanes is increasing because without each passenger wearing a mask, planes are not allowed to take off (Levenson, 2022).

The topic raised by NBC News reveals the issue of personal responsibility to oneself and to society, as wearing a mask, according to the CDC, has a proven track record of effectiveness (Edwards, 2020). Each individual has the moral right to determine whether he or she is willing to take responsibility for his or her life through mask-wearing but cannot go against public laws. In other words, when individuals refuse to wear masks (whether they are vaccinated or not), they put others at risk. This raises issues of infringing on the freedoms of other individuals and intentionally harming them. Consequently, individuals have a social responsibility to wear a mask in order to work together to combat the active spread of COVID-19.

The problem of forced vaccination

Meanwhile, the problem of forced vaccination against coronavirus infection raises questions about the influence of power. One of the fundamental freedoms of any individual is the absolute responsibility for ones own life if capable. In other words, no one may compel an individual to commit acts against his will unless such acts threaten national security. Encouraged by the desire for public health, national governments have imposed mandatory vaccination regulations on an increasing number of categories of the population; naturally, this raises ethical questions about the ability of authorities to influence the private lives of individuals in this way.

This is particularly evident in the protest by truckers in Canada who have expressed dissatisfaction with the vaccination law. A news article describes Canadian truckers protesting against the strengthening of government power over civil society because they expect that things will never go back to normal, they are being ganged up on by the government, the media, Big Tech, Big Pharma (Panreck, 2022, para. 7). This example reflects the problem of resistance to authority and opposition to an opinion that is studied in the course. However, it is difficult to call either side of the conflict right because both truckers (like all anti-vaxxers) and governments have a fairly reasonable motivation for their opinions.

Government support

Any attempt by the government to support national health care may not seem entirely fair. The authorities in many countries were totally unprepared for the pandemic, causing health care systems to fail at the beginning of COVID-19. The high number of deaths, the shortage of medicines, and the lack of adequate information undermined peoples trust in the authorities. However, the action of the authorities to protect public health can be justified by the increasing media coverage of the health risks of COVID-19. From a biological point of view, as Nature (2022) writes, having suffered COVID-19 increases the risk of developing dangerous effects, among them cardiovascular disease. Consequently, ignoring preventive action and effective treatment measures to contain the problem now could lead to exacerbation of chronic disease in the near future.

The issue of pollution

The impact of COVID-19 on ecosystems is meaningfully broader than meets the eye. To understand what we are talking about, let us watch the following short excerpt from the BBC documentary:

As you can see, the pandemic problem continues to affect non-obvious areas. The need to wear masks all the time leads to the problem of their improper disposal, causing ecosystems to suffer. Studies show that plastic particles from medical masks get into aquatic animals, leading to mass extinctions (City University of Hong Kong, 2022). The problem is exacerbated by the intensification of globalization, with tourists traveling around the world, exacerbating the problem of pollution in natural areas isolated from megacities.

Introduction

One of the defining features of the 2020s will undoubtedly be the long-term societal effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The first known case of the severe respiratory syndrome was reported in Wuhan, China, in November 2019. It continued to spread to almost all countries around the world, leading to lockdowns, political protests, mass unemployment, and economic instability (The British Academy, 2021). It has resulted in almost half a billion cases worldwide and over six million deaths (Worldometer, 2022). More than two years later, the world is gradually reverting to its normal state as employees return to work and governments ease epidemiological restrictions. However, one crucial area suffering from the burden of the pandemic is being forgotten: the healthcare industry, which is still experiencing a heightened risk of infection both for care providers and patients. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the running of healthcare facilities, but numerous academic studies offer solutions that could ameliorate the situation.

Impact of Covid-19 on Infusion Centers

Experience

My professional experience of Covid-19 is based on my work performing blood transfusions, antibiotics, and injections in an infusion center. Each employee is required to wear a respirator, maintain hand hygiene, and uphold a physical distance of at least six feet from other employees or patients whenever possible. Furthermore, the pandemic has radically shifted the way our organization sees patients. Patients that enter the building are obligated to undergo a screening process, which involves answering Covid-related questions such as whether they have experienced signs of fever, lost their sense of smell, or have recently been in close contact with Covid-19 positive persons. No visitors are allowed to accompany them unless they need assistance going to the bathroom or eating. After Covid-19, infusion centers now regulate and record patients activities, behaviors, and actions more rigorously.

Data

Most of the data concerning the impact of Covid-19 on infusion centers comes from a survey of 89 OIOBD members, including North America, Europe, Israel, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Brazil, China, and India. Before the pandemic, the centers were staffed by general patients providing over fifty infusions per week to patients from different specialties (Dotan et al., 2020). Clinical disease activity, laboratory tests, and therapeutic drug monitoring were routinely performed, but patients were discharged immediately after infusion without further monitoring. During Covid-19, 81% of infusion centers increased cleaning between infusions, 67% reduced the number of patients allowed in the center to maintain social distancing, and 28% consequently expanded hours of operation. The vast majority of other infusion centers around the world enforced the same rules as my place of work.

Strategies to Deal with Covid-19

Disinfecting High-touch Surfaces

The article by Choi et al. (2021) focuses on strategies to mitigate the transmission of Covid-19 through surfaces in healthcare settings. Research has shown that one of the ways coronavirus is transmitted is through contact with touched objects, and it can survive on inanimate surfaces for up to nine days. The classical disinfection strategy involves the use of chemicals, but its efficiency is undermined by the fact that cleaning is done sporadically in healthcare facilities. One potential way to resolve this issue is by implementing automated disinfection approaches such as hydrogen peroxide vapor and ultraviolet light (Choi et al., 2021). Another method involves using copper, a material with antimicrobial properties that had been confirmed to rapidly inactivate coronavirus. A copper-based alloy can be used to coat high-touch surfaces, including doorknobs, credit card holders, pens, computers, or pumps (Choi et al., 2021). Apart from traditional chemical treatment, techniques such as automated disinfection and copper-coating could be enforced by healthcare facilities to improve disinfection capability.

Waste Management

The article by Das et al. (2021) describes numerous strategies to manage healthcare waste during the pandemic. The increased number of hospitalizations due to Covid-19 and the use of personal protective equipment has led to the production of more healthcare solid waste. Its improper disposal may cause further infection, particularly for exposed waste pickers, who can then unintentionally spread the virus within their community (Das et al., 2021). The Center for Disease Control and Prevention does not differentiate between regular healthcare waste and waste generated by Covid-19 patients; thus, both are treated the same. However, in Hubei, China, hospital employees segregate and sterilize infected waste with chlorine before packing it in double bags and storing it in temporary facilities before incineration (Das et al., 2021). The Philippines passed an amendment that requires special registered transporters and facilities to acquire permits to handle the infected waste. In Jordan, Covid-19-contaminated waste is sanitized and disposed of daily. The authors state that the most optimal strategy is to transfer hospital waste to temporary treatment centers before waste disposal centers. In other countries, infected waste produced by Covid-19 patients is collected and stored separately to lower the possibility of further infection.

Impact of Strategies on Infusion Centers

Infusion centers could implement the strategies proposed in these two articles to lower the risks of infection. While masks, physical distancing, and pre-appointment screenings are the foundation of combatting Covid-19, the severity of the stressor warrants further action. Firstly, high-touch surfaces in infusion centers should be coated with copper-based alloys to inactivate coronavirus and other pathogens. These include doorknobs, computers, chair rails, and drip stands. While this measure will lower the risks of infection, it has a potentially negative impact because copper is more expensive than the steel traditionally used in healthcare facilities. Furthermore, copper oxidizes and tarnishes to dark brown after a few years, although it still retains its antibacterial properties. Installing copper-based coating on high-touch surfaces potentially has some financial and aesthetic drawbacks, but its ability to inactivate pathogens outweighs both.

Secondly, proper waste management procedures should be implemented. Infusion centers generally utilize offsite waste treatments due to cost efficiency. However, the center should be more active in addressing the problem of excess and inadequately sanitized waste. A possible solution is having infusion center employees disinfect the waste with chemicals approved by the CDC against Covid-19. The waste could be double-bagged and stored in a temporary facility, separate from workers and patients, for a maximum of 24 hours before being transported to offsite incineration treatment centers. Sanitation and daily disposal are more expensive due to material and staffing costs but improve workplace safety and prevent further infection.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Covid-19 is a significant problem in contemporary healthcare, but various organizations are implementing effective strategies to mitigate the risk of infection. The infusion center I work at has mostly limited its epidemiological measures to masks, patient screenings, and physical distancing. Academic articles propose further action, such as installing copper-based coating on high-touch surfaces based on its antibacterial properties. Furthermore, it is recommended to sterilize and dispose of health waste daily. These strategies are potentially more high-cost than traditional healthcare methods, such as stainless steel and offsite waste treatment, but have been confirmed to lower infection rates.

References

Choi, H., Chatterjee, P., Lichtfouse, E., Martel, J. A., Hwang, M., Jinadatha, C., & Sharma, V. K. (2021). Classical and alternative disinfection strategies to control the COVID-19 virus in healthcare facilities: a review. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 19(3), 1945-1951.

Das, A. K., Islam, M. N., Billah, M. M., & Sarker, A. (2021). COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare solid waste management strategyA mini-review. Science of the Total Environment, 778, 1-6.

Dotan, I., Panaccione, R., Kaplan, G. G., OMorain, C., Lindsay, J. O., & Abreu, M. T. (2020). Best practice guidance for adult infusion centres during the COVID-19 pandemic: Report from the COVID-19 International Organization for the Study of IBD [IOIBD] task force. Journal of Crohns and Colitis, 14(Supplement_3), S785-S790.

The British Academy. (2021). The COVID Decade: understanding the long-term societal impacts of COVID-19. Web.

Worldometer. (2022). Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Web.

The coronavirus pandemic affected every single area of peoples lives and humanity. It damaged business, education, and entertainment, including sports, music, and movie industries. Indeed, all of that has significantly impacted the economy of the world and countries separately. COVID-19 affected peoples workplaces, and schools, and colleges where their children study. After two years of the pandemic, society got used to it and made adjustments to live almost like before, but still has no clue when it will entirely end.

One of the main problems connected to the COVID-19 pandemic is inequality. Studies show that fifty-nine percent of New York students five years and older have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine (McCarthy). However, there is a massive gap between the districts of the city. As McCarthy claims in her work about New York school vaccination, in district number two, one of the wealthiest parts of the city, eighty percent have received at least one dose. At the same time, only thirty-eight percent of children from the twenty-third districts schools can confirm vaccination (McCarthy). That creates a noticeable gap between different layers of society in their possibility to be healthy. Even so, almost seventy percent of Americans are already vaccinated as of June twenty-second, and nearly eighty percent got at least one dose (Carlsen et al.). The disparity in vaccination between different layers of the society reflects the general inequalities.

Pandemics demonstrate the weaknesses of the systems, especially in economics. Many economic experts stated that most of the last years tendencies were temporary, but that is not proven yet, instead, the movement in the opposite direction can be seen. The COVID-19 crisis is multiplied by war in Ukraine, creating genuine uncertainty in the worlds future at all levels. Over these years of the pandemic, the house owners in America have gained a lot in housing wealth. Badger and Quoctrung in their work about the pandemic housing market say that it is perfect for those with their own house, but its also inseparable from the housing affordability crisis for those who dont. The rents rise, inflation only grows, and the availability to own real estate at least someday is smaller than ever. That creates another distance between different categories of the population.

Coronavirus as a disease has affected people of different ages differently. The ONS claims that three-quarters of all deaths were among those aged seventy-five and over in the UK (Cheshire-Allen and Calder). That situation not only shows the problem of ageism but also demonstrates careless systems and procedures and continuous examples of it. It shows how frail and shaky can such a conception be as the basis for support for family carers (Cheshire-Allen and Calder). America needs to understand the challenges and risks of caring for older people to build itself after the pandemic.

Countries governments spent colossal amounts of money to help businesses and companies survive lockdown. US government spent at least five trillion dollars on it (Smialek). That is another global problem of inequality that COVID-19 caused. As Smialek states in her work about the American economy during the pandemic, businesses discovered that they were able to raise prices without losing customers. Workers saw their bills swelling, airfares climbing, and they began to ask their employers for more money (Smialek). However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine could change the worlds interconnections even more, and it has already made gigantic moves in international in former times regular connections. Everything is unclear, and it could take a lot of time until the world understands what the future economy will look like.

Another coronavirus issue directly associated with inequality is the international migration of medical workers. Throughout the pandemic, thousands of nurses and doctors from Africa migrated to developed countries like the United States, Germany, Finland, and the United Kingdom. The problem is the lack of medical workers, due to frequent cases of infections, especially at the beginning of COVID-19. African nurses understand that many countries can value their work a lot more in terms of money than their homeland. At the same time, the amount of qualified medical workers in Africa is many times less than, for example, in Canada. According to Sinead Carbery, president of OGrady Peyton International, about a thousand nurses are arriving in the United States each month from African nations, the Philippines, and the Caribbean (Nolen). That means that North American and European countries raise the importance of their citizens health much higher than the residents of poor countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis is still on, and even though some industries have positive developments, nations will deal with the consequences of this virus for many years more. The war in Ukraine has made the process of returning to the usual complicated and uncertain. The economic and political conditions changed a lot and will change even more if the war does not stop soon. Although COVID-19 happened, the war was not necessary, and it must be stopped as quickly as possible if humanity wants to escape the crisis.

Works Cited

Badger, Emily and Quoctrung Bui. The Extraordinary Wealth Created by the Pandemic Housing Market. The New York Times, Web.

Carlsen, Audrey, et al. How are the COVID-19 Vaccine and Booster Campaigns Going in Your State?. NPR, Web.

Cheshire-Allen, Maria, and Calder Gideon. The Risks of Care: Justice, Family Carers, and the Pandemic.TransformingSociety, Web.

McCarthy, Lauren. New York Citys School Vaccination Numbers Show Deep Disparities Between Rich and Poor. The New York Times, Web.

Nolen, Stephanie. Rich Countries Lure Health Workers from Low-Income Nations to Fight Shortages. The New York Times, Web.

Smialek, Jeanna. Is Americas Economy Entering a New Normal?. The New York Times, Web.

Introduction

COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic caused by SAR-COV-2 that was first identified in China. The epidemics signs and symptoms vary from none to life-threatening, and the most common ones include high fevers above 39 degrees Celsius, flu-like symptoms, cough, loss of sense of smell, and breathing difficulties. The virus is spread through respiratory droplets, coughs, sneezes, or talks (Heriyati, 2020). Social distancing, covering the mouth with the elbow when sneezing, and hand washing are some of the preventive measures.

Electronic Health Records Data about COVID-19

Most hospitals use Electronic Health Records (EHR) to store patients data. On the verge of the pandemic, EHR has been used to retrieve COVID 19 data to monitor the current trends of the pandemic and the treatment. Surveillance data that I have come across include the number of people tested, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, and the number of deaths caused by the disease. Among the few EHR I have come across, they record the treatment measures given to the patients. The data came from the community, hospitals, isolation centers, and primary care settings.

Twitter Information and its Impact on Future Collaborative Trends

The tweet given below is from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and it is a resource for the global health community. It reminds people to stay updated with the current research and information on COVID-19. The picture is also a reminder to the community members to practice safety measures. This tweet is a reminder to the tweeter users to practice social distance, wash hands, and avoid crowds. The tweet urges the public to get COVID-19 information from their articles and resources. Such information nurtures an informed society that can collaborate with public health in the fight against the pandemic in the future.

Reference

Heriyati, P. (2020). Analyzing factors affect human behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, 12(SP8), 73-80. Web.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic is currently the largest healthcare issue that the world has faced in recent history. Although the entire world feels its impact, some countries are more affected than others. With the largest number of confirmed cases in the world, the United States poses a special interest in terms of how the countrys healthcare system has handled the pandemic and what could have been done differently to achieve a better outcome. While the novel nature of the COVID-19 was a challenge in its own right during the beginning of the outbreak in the United States, it was also combined with and magnified by other factors complicating the design and delivery of healthcare services to the affected population. Limited resources in rural hospitals and the lack of cultural awareness regarding the ethnically complex populations affected were among these factors. A case study analysis reveals that, while there was not much breathing room to prepare better for the outbreak of COVID-19 specifically, hospital personnel could still engage in cultural immersion training well before the outbreak to be better equipped to provide culturally aware care to the population.

Background

The case study is focused on two hospitals  namely, the Valley River Hospital and Northwest Communities Hospital  serving a rural country in Oregon and their approach to handling the COVID-19 pandemic during its early stage on American soil. Both are critical access hospitals of 15 and 20 beds, respectively and belong to the Oregon Health Services, covering three counties of the state. The two hospitals have been preparing for COVID-19 since March when the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. However, rural areas in the United States tend to have lower resources in terms of access to healthcare than urban areas (Cuadros et al., 2021). Due to their position at the end of the supply line, the hospitals in question faced challenges in procuring the necessary equipment and supplies and additional costs of transporting tests to urban testing facilities. Moreover, the hospital staffing proved not sufficiently prepared in terms of cultural awareness, especially since the majority of confirmed cases were Hispanics, including indigenous Guatemalans. Thus, at the beginning of the outbreak, both hospitals faced challenges due to insufficient material supply and a lack of cultural awareness.

Alternatives

The organization of testing in the hospitals and the drive-through testing facilities on the outskirts of the three-county area was most likely the optimal way to conduct testing. The alternatives, such as sending medical staff to test those potentially affected at home, would hardly be feasible considering the limited resources and lower population density in rural healthcare as well as a higher percentage of the elderly, who are more susceptible to COVID-19 (Henning-Smith, 2020). Given the difficulties that the Valley River Hospital and Northwest Communities Hospital encountered in procuring nasopharyngeal swabs or personal protective equipment, both hospitals could benefit from exploring alternative supply channels to meet the need. Since the case study identifies the lack of cross-cultural competencies, most notably when dealing with the Hispanic population of Guatemalan origin, as the main challenge experienced during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, both hospitals could also use alternative approaches to alleviate this shortcoming. These approaches will be covered in more detail in the following section.

Proposed Solutions

Regarding the difficulties of procuring the necessary supplies and equipment to meet the populations healthcare needs under the conditions of the COVID-19 outbreak, both hospitals could benefit from engaging alternative supply options. As mentioned above, the key reason why rural hospitals tend to have worse access to resources is the fact that they tend to be at the end of the supply chain, which is also explicitly stressed in the case study (Cuadros et al., 2021). Given that, the most logical solutions to the issue are either engaging new and previously unused sources of supply or straightening the supply lines and lessening the number of intermediaries in the procurement of the required supplies and equipment. If possible, the perfect option would be to establish a working relationship with the immediate producers of the required supplies and equipment. Since the case study does not offer additional information regarding the specifics of the supply chains of Valley River Hospital and Northwest Communities Hospital, formulating more specific recommendations does not seem feasible with the information available.

In terms of the personnels cultural awareness, the hospitals could and arguably should have done more to be better prepared to accommodate Hispanic and, specifically, Guatemalan patients as well as contain the spread of COVID-19. While the outbreak of COVID-19 was a sudden crisis, the population composition in the counties served by the Oregon Health Services was well-known long before the pandemic. The solution to the emerging problem of insufficient cultural awareness would be cultural immersion training, which Brock et al. (2019) recommend as an efficient approach to fostering cross-cultural competencies. Moreover, the generally lower standard of living, cramped living conditions, and cultural traditions make Hispanics more susceptible to the threat presented by COVID-19 (Gil et al., 2020). With this in mind, prompt and sustained delivery of information on countering and limiting the spread of COVID-19 is also a necessary solution to the problem of its increased incidence among Hispanics (Gil et al., 2020). This information, as well as its delivery, should be tailored according to the perceptions of the population, which, once again, stresses the necessity of improving the cross-cultural competencies of medical staff.

Recommendations

The recommended course of action for this case study is to continue providing COVID-19 testing in hospitals and drive-by sites while paying more attention to the medical personnels cultural awareness and information dissemination. Given the constraints of the pandemic, a full-fledged educational campaign intended to raise cultural awareness is hardly feasible. Based on existing experience, both hospitals need to identify a list of cross-cultural issues that are most likely to arise when aiding Hispanic patients, devise specific ways to address these issues, and disseminate the information among the personnel. The hospitals should also arrange staffing patterns to increase the likelihood of Spanish-speaking personnel being present in situations involving language barriers (Gil et al., 2020). In terms of information dissemination to counter the spread of disease among the population, it should mainly aim to prevent large social gatherings, which can be an exceptionally potent way to spread infection in rural areas (Mahale et al., 2020). For example, the information campaign may stress the vulnerability of older community members and p[resent it through the Latino concept of familismo, which emphasizes familial ties and the importance of family members safety.

Conclusion

To summarize, the Valley River Hospital and Northwest Communities Hospital, as described in the case study, organized efficient COVID-19 testing during the outbreak in rural Oregon, which seems to be the best option as compared to the alternatives. At the same time, both hospitals could have benefited from training in cross-cultural competencies with a focus of Hispanic populations before the pandemic or on-the-job training during the outbreak. An information dissemination campaign would also be crucial to prevent or limit the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas, particularly among Hispanics. Finally, the diversification and straightening of the supply chain for the necessary items and protective equipment is also advisable.

References

Brock, M. J., Fowler, L. B., Freeman, J. G., Richardson, D. C., & Barnes, L. G. (2019). Cultural immersion in the education of healthcare professionals: A systematic review. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professionals, 16(4).

Cuadros, D. F., Branscum, A. J., Mukandavire, Z., Miller, F. D., MacKinnon, M. (2021). Dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in urban and rural areas in the United States. Annals of Epidemiology, 59, 16-20.

Henning-Smith, C. (2020). The unique impact of COVID-19 on older adults in rural areas. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 32(4-5), 396-402.

Gil, R. M., Marcelin, J. R., Zuniga-Blanco, B., Marquez, C., Mathew T., Piggott, D. A. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic: Disparate health impact on the Hispanic/Latinx population in the United States. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 222(10), 15921595.

Mahale, P, Rothfuss, C., Bly, S., Kelley, M., Bennett, S., Huston, S. L., & Robinson, S. (2020). Multiple COVID-19 outbreaks linked to a wedding reception in rural Maine  August 7September 14, 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(45): 16861690.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable impact on business ventures, with many employees being requested to work remotely. This course of action led to the dynamics of human resource (HR) management and corporate culture changing significantly. This case study will consider the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Australian data analytics company. It will assess what strategies can be employed to promote a healthy work-life balance and corporate culture. For this case, the survey and interview data collection methods are recommended to comprehensively evaluate the situation.

Business question

The organization under consideration is a company that provides its customers with data analysis services and data-based solutions. The company delivers different analyses, including identifying and predicting business sales trends and conducting product performance analysis as well as employee-related analyses. The business operates in Australia only and does not provide services for international ventures. Currently, the organization faces several pandemic-related challenges that should be urgently addressed. Due to employees working remotely, the company experienced significant declines in corporate culture, burnout, stress, and productivity problems. It can be argued that difficulties with maintaining a healthy work-life balance contributed to these issues.

Key organisational objectives and business question

The primary organizational objectives are to strengthen the corporate culture within the company and to assist employees in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Therefore, the business question should address the strategies that can be implemented to achieve the stated objectives to enhance the employee experience, job satisfaction, and retention. In addition, the indicated organizational objectives are expected to have a positive impact on job [performance and financial results of the company.

Table 1.1: Summary of key organisational objectives

Table 1.2: Business question

Statement of the adopted data collection instruments

For the purposes of the case study, it is important to employ both qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments to obtain comprehensive data sets relating to the current challenges of the company. Thus, a survey and a semi-structured interview can be utilized to collect quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. A survey can be defined as a method of collecting information through a set of relevant structured questions from a sample to understand the target population as a whole (Online Surveys, 2022; Story and Tait, 2019). Meanwhile, an interview is a method of gathering data through a structured, semi-structured, or unstructured dialogue of a researcher with the study participants (Barrett and Twycross, 2018). The use of two data gathering techniques will allow a better understanding of the challenges the company faces and will help develop more efficient solutions to them.

Critical evaluation of these instruments

A Likert scale survey is an appropriate method of collecting information on the companys current issues. This attitude scale allows the respondents to indicate the degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement (Taherdoost, 2019). A survey with a 7-point Likert scale can provide invaluable numerical data on the phenomena under investigation. Such surveys are simple to construct and can yield a reliable attitude scale with a data set that is easy to analyze (Taherdoost, 2019). However, research shows that respondents often tend to avoid extreme responses, leading to a central tendency bias (Taherdoost, 2019, p. 4). In addition, the scale is vulnerable to social desirability bias, with the participants giving answers they feel are desirable.

An interview can also be utilized to gather information to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company. A semi-structured interview is recommended as it allows to ask questions concerning the core elements of the studied occurrence while permitting the respondents to elaborate (Barrett and Twycross, 2018). Flexibility is the primary advantage of a semi-structured interview as a tool utilized to build a data set. Face-to-face and online interviews conducted using video calls allow the interviewer to account for non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and body language. However, the semi-structured interview procedure also presents several limitations, including it being time-consuming (Hawkins, 2018). Lack of anonymity also presents a concern, as the interviewees may provide disingenuous answers to protect their position in the company.

Table 1.3: Comparison of the adopted data collection instruments

Potential limitations and issues associated with the proposed approach to data acquisition

Survey and interview data collection methods have potential limitations related to validity and reliability. Surveys are highly reliable and valid; however, the internal consistency and construct validity of the survey are dependent on the questions included being well-developed (Story and Tait, 2019). Survey respondents may show self-report bias as well as non-response bias. Interviews are characterized by high reliability and validity, specifically content validity that can be easily assessed by creating a pool of items (Clark and Watson, 2019). Nevertheless, interviews are vulnerable to the answers being evaluated through the interviewers perspective or subjective face validity (Clark and Watson, 2019). Thus, both methods have certain advantages and limitations to their implementation.

Table 1.4: Evaluation of the chosen data collection instruments

Reference list

Barrett, D. and Twycross, A. (2018) Data collection in qualitative research, Evidence Based Nursing, 21(3), pp. 6364. doi: 10.1136/eb-2018-102939.

Clark, L. A. and Watson, D. (2019) Constructing Validity: New Developments in Creating Objective Measuring Instruments, Psychological Assessment, 31(12), pp. 14121427.

Hawkins, J. (2018) The practical utility and suitability of email interviews in qualitative research, The Qualitative Report, 23(2), pp. 493501.

Online Surveys(2022). Web.

Story, D. and Tait, A. (2019) Survey Research, Anesthesiology, 130, pp. 192202.

Taherdoost, H. (2019) What is the best response scale for survey and questionnaire design; Review of different lengths of rating scale / Attitude scale / Likert scale, International Journal of Academic Research in Management, 8(1), pp. 1-10.

Sequeira et al. (2021) acknowledged that the year 2020 saw rapid change in the healthcare system. For example, in mid-May 2020, nearly five million people contracted Covid-19 worldwide, already causing tens of thousands of deaths (Dong et al., 2020). With the spread of Covid-19, nations dealt with massive casualties, as hospitals continued to witness an increased number of infected persons across the world. For instance, Esmaeilzadeh & Mirzaei (2021) believed that the Covid-19 pandemic emerged as the most significant health challenge that clinicians must tackle across the world. In August 2021, roughly 232 million people have Covid, with around 4.7 million deaths linked to the same (Esmaeilzadeh & Mirzaei, 2021). The proliferated number of Covid-19 infected persons globally exposed clinicians to new work conditions characterized by increased workload and increased dangers of being infected.

The problem of clinician burnout during the Covid-19 pandemic becomes one of the key issues of concern, as clinicians forcefully spend more hours attending to the large pool of infected persons flocking healthcare centers in search of treatment (Ferry et al., 2020). However, the emergence of electronic health records (EHRs) has, in a vast way, served a crucial role in helping clinicians to avoid burnout, given that the EHR offers clinicians several features to attain a health systems clinical needs (Kisa, 2020). Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate how EHR features impact the burnout of clinicians working in hospitals that patients admitted with covid-19 infections.

The outbreak of Covid-19 exposed healthcare professionals to patients with severe as well as mild symptoms. Although, for this reason, respiratory droplets and close contact are the main portals of entry that Covid-19 spreads, medical personnel are increasingly vulnerable to Covid-19 infections given that they directly attend to the Covid-19 patients (Ferry et al., 2020). These avenues result in health-linked stress amongst clinicians. Furthermore, the health professionals are not resilient to the stresses due to augmented phone calls from Covid-19 patients, patient portal messages, and numerous walk-in-patients on top of ambulatory care visits (Buran & Alt1n, 2021). Also, the number of Covid-19 patients seeking healthcare services generated additional workload to individuals, thus resulting in adverse burnout levels.

However, the use of EHR during this Covid-19 pandemic improved clinicians ability to establish diverse strategies to boost their capacity to manage the pandemic. Carayon et al. (2020) emphasized that the EHR contains several features that allow medical professionals to use several standardized processes, including scripted triaging, real-time data analytics, telemedicine, electronic check-in, self-screening pages, and timely health information exchange. Furthermore, the ability of EHRs to enable individuals to have access to various safe techniques caring for the Covid-19 patients, including electronic check-in and self-screening pages, reduced clinician burnout (Esmaeilzadeh & Mirzaei, 2021). In addition, through electronic check-in and self-screening pages, medical personnel must overcome some key factors such as the manual registration and recording of visiting patients, thus lowering the workload to clinicians and other healthcare professionals (Faisal et al., 2021). On the contrary, the fact remains that in a healthcare facility, medical professionals are not trainable to leverage health information technologies in their daily activities. At the same time, the introduction of EHRs is cumbersome to untrained clinicians.

As it stands, EHR use is compounded by other significant issues such as clinical volumes as well as the clinicians flexibility to overcome unplanned challenges. Likewise, Jalili et al. (2020) argue that the role of EHR in lowering clinician burnout, innovative techniques to lessen burnout at this present era of Covid-19 is devisable. Even so, Ferry et al (2020) show that EHR innovations cannot help reduce the level of clinicians burnout if healthcare centers fail to take planned calculations towards understating the socio-ecological context, national policy, and organizational culture under which these technologies occur.

The study on the effects of EHRs on clinicians burnout in Iran shows that medical professionals who had proper training on how to use EHRs in managing Covid-19 patients reported accelerated EHR usability. Training is one of the critical factors to enhance their ability to deliver healthcare services to Covid-19 patients, thus, in the long-term, lessening their burnout levels (Madhavan et al., 2020). Moreover, individuals trained on the use of EHRs reported that they found EHRs as a valuable tool to support Covid-19 outbreak management (Kisa, 2020). They argued that their hospitals shared higher standards for data entry and exchanging health information with other hospitals.

Nevertheless, over 168 clinicians surveyed during the study reported having no training on the use of EHRs. As a result, they acknowledged facing enormous challenges when filling data of these electronic records (Kisa, 2020). These challenges added a burden to untrained users, thus leading to more burnout. This finding aligns with the previous studies showing that poor EHR usability results in clinicians dissatisfaction. From the above literature and survey, it is apparent that trained health professionals find EHRs easier to leverage to lessen their burden, a move that results in lower burnout levels (Madhavan et al., 2020). For instance, hospitals that properly train staff tend to have well-integrated EHR systems and retain close collaboration with other hospitals, thus promoting their clinicians ability to have timely access to the patients data during this stressful Covid-19 period. In the long run, the staff can balance EHRs as an effective tool to support Covid-19 outbreak management (Sequeira et al., 2021). Studies show that the more training clinicians obtain on EHRs, the less likely they experience burnout while monitoring the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, untrained staff finds it strenuous to use EHRs in managing the Covid-19 pandemic, a move that resulted in higher levels of burnout.

The current pandemic may be considered to be one of the most significant disasters that occurred during the last several decades. Not only it caused considerable social, economic, and even political damage, but it also reshaped the ways of life worldwide. In some cases, the adverse effects of COVID-19 and restrictions related to the pandemic were deteriorated by a lack of relevant disaster management knowledge and experience. As a consequence, most industries faced unprecedented problems, and without appropriate response frameworks, in many cases, they failed to provide an adequate, timely solution. Nonetheless, the healthcare industry was under the most severe pressure of emerging problems, ethical dilemmas, and uncertainty. Consequently, healthcare underwent the most noticeable changes and implemented a wide variety of relevant measures, which were proven to be effective during the early stages of the pandemic. Digital technologies were broadly implemented as a response to quarantine-related limitations, and the healthcare system was no exception. Some sources state that even though emerging EHRs may face a number of limitations, the mechanism is highly promising and scalable (Brat et al., 2020). Therefore it developed rapidly and was implemented into practice in order to address various problems, including medical worker burnout.

There are several dimensions in which the implementation of EHRs may be beneficial for the healthcare system. As already mentioned, one of these dimensions is reducing medical worker burnout. It may not only achieve that goal during the current pandemic but also provide practical frameworks for the further continuing operation of medical facilities. The second dimension is the possibility to reduce direct contacts between clinicians, which corresponds with the current covid-related restrictions. Another possible benefit of EHRs is the opportunity to analyze big data effectively in accordance with the principles of patient-centered care. Recent research suggests that it may enhance individual risk profiling and consequently improve patient outcomes (Faisal et al., 2021). A number of potential benefits combined with the necessity to provide a response to the emerging post-covid paradigm make EHR a promising initiative. Nevertheless, there are several limitations and barriers that may prevent successful implementation. One of the most significant barriers is insufficient experience of using EHRs among medical workers. Lack of knowledge needed to operate EHRs may considerably reduce the potential benefits.

Based on the above findings, it is obvious that hospitals need to ensure that EHRs serve a viable role in reducing clinician burnout during this Covid-19 pandemic; they must improve the EHR user-friendliness and convenience (Buran & Alt1n, 2021). The reduction in burnout is obtainable by adequately training staff. In addition, it promotes users ability to leverage EHRs to access Covid-19 patients data (Buran & Alt1n, 2021). Having access to their Covid-19 patients data, health professionals do not undertake the process of collecting patients data from the beginning (Esmaeilzadeh & Mirzaei, 2021). Therefore, introducing comprehensive training frameworks should become the first priority for EHR implementation programs.

Conclusively, a significant correlation was determined between the use of EHRs and lesser burnout of medical employees who work with covid-19 cases. Several sources supported the presumption that EHR may considerably decrease covid-related workload and stress (Esmaeilzadeh & Mirzaei, 2021). However, further research may be needed in order to identify which aspects of EHRs have the most noticeable impact on worker burnout reduction. Moreover, it may be beneficial to widen the research by considering worker burnout unrelated to covid-19. Such scientific data may be utilized in order to improve EHRs implementation frameworks and provide appropriate training programs.

References

Brat, G. A., Weber, G. M., Gehlenborg, N., Avillach, P., Palmer, N. P., Chiovato, L., Cimino, J., Waitman, L. R., Omenn, G. S., Malovini, A., Moore, J. H., Beaulieu-Jones, B. K., Tibollo, V., Murphy, S. N., Yi, S. L., Keller, M. S., Bellazzi, R., Hanauer, D. A., Serret-Larmande, A., & Kohane, I. S. (2020). International electronic health RECORD-DERIVED COVID-19 clinical course profiles: THE 4CE consortium. Npj Digital Medicine, 3(1).

Buran, F., & Alt1n, Z. (2021). Burnout among physicians working in a pandemic hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.Legal Medicine, 51, 101881.

Carayon, P., Cassel, C., & Dzau, V. J. (2020). Clinician burnout and professional well-beingReply. JAMA, 323(13), 1318.

Dong, E., Du, H., & Gardner, L. (2020). An interactive web-based dashboard to track Covid-19 in real time. The Lancet, 20(5), 533-538.

Esmaeilzadeh, P., & Mirzaei, T. (2021). Using electronic health records to mitigate workplace burnout among clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic: Field study in Iran (Preprint). Web.

Faisal, A., Lannou, E. L., Post, B., Haar, S., Brett, S., & Kadirvelu, B. (2021). Clustering of patient comorbidities within electronic medical records enables high-precision COVID-19 mortality prediction. Web.

Ferry, A. V., Wereski, R., Strachan, F. E., & Mills, N. L. (2020). Predictors of healthcare worker burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Web.

Jalili, M., Niroomand, M., Hadavand, F., Zeinali, K., & Fotouhi, A. (2020). Burnout among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. Web.

Kisa, S. (2020). Burnout among physicians and nurses during COVID-19 pandemic. European Journal of Environment and Public Health, 4(2), em0055. Web.

Madhavan, S., Bastarache, L., Brown, J. S., Butte, A. J., Dorr, D. A., Embi, P. J., Friedman, C. P., Johnson, K. B., Moore, J. H., Kohane, I. S., Payne, P. R., Tenenbaum, J. D., Weiner, M. G., Wilcox, A. B., & Ohno-Machado, L. (2020). Use of electronic health records to support a public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: A perspective from 15 academic medical centers.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 28(2), 393-401.

Sequeira, L., Almilaji, K., Strudwick, G., Jankowicz, D., & Tajirian, T. (2021). EHR SWAT teams: A physician engagement initiative to improve electronic health record (EHR) experiences and mitigate possible causes of EHR-related burnout. JAMIA Open, 4(2).

When the COVID-19 pandemic locked the entire world up in their homes, people finally realized the value of wearing masks in public to protect their lives and not be infected. Unfortunately, this understanding did not last long, and soon after the introduction of vaccination, governments happily released the restrictions that forced people to wear masks. Citizens should be legally obliged to always wear masks because it is the only effective way to protect people from COVID-19 and other deadly viruses.

There are four main reasons why my proposal will work, offering an immeasurable benefit for humanity. Firstly, people, unless severely depressed, want to live and will do anything to preserve their lives, however pointless and immoral. The primary message in this proposal is that masks save your life, which is not even a marketing strategy but a blunt fact. Secondly, many people love to be dramatic, and wearing a mask adds a layer of mystery to an individual. The desire to live and demonstrate ones uniqueness are potent motivators for people not to remove their masks in public. Thirdly, men and women will appreciate the tremendous advantage of keeping their masks on when they start saving more money because there will be a decreased need to purchase various skin care products. Fourthly, people will wear masks constantly because they cannot deny the benefit of protecting themselves from infections and eliminating some routine expenses.

Other methods may prevent COVID-19 spread, but they are entirely useless in the long term. The first alternative solution is vaccinations, but it did not stop the pandemic, and people continue dying. The second possible way of reducing transmission is by allowing people to work and study online. However, humans are social creatures who require interaction with the world and each other. Hence, demanding the constant wearing of masks is a better option to stop COVID-19 and prevent other pandemics in the future.

I propose this solution to stop the COVID-19 crisis with sincerity in my heart and without an intention to gain any benefit. I genuinely believe that masks can prevent the problem of viral mutations that make it more robust. On the other hand, vaccines, which people and governments so blindly rely on, only give an additional opportunity for the coronavirus to become stronger. Considering the tremendous advantages masks offer, this proposal should not meet any objections from the public.

The case of COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the necessity for governments to institute new policies swiftly in order to address the spread of infections. In 2019 and 2020, the countries responded differently to the pandemic, leading to a variety of results discussed by Hoseinpour Dehkordi et al. (2020). As an outcome, the nations present a variety of statistics for the speed and acceleration of new cases and the number of recoveries. Several policies, including social isolation, lockdown, quarantine, and fast detection of cases, are effective in controlling the disease.

Looking at the statistics, one may see that China, South Korea, and Iran seem to manage the pandemic with a combination of policies. At the same time, Italy, Spain, the United States, ad Germany demonstrated a slower response with limited policy implementation. Still, their change in numbers after the institution of new policies also supported the positive effect of certain activities. According to Hoseinpour Dehkordi et al. (2020), daily statistics confirm the effectiveness of lockdown  the closure of borders to tourists and foreign visitors. This policy lowers the number of confirmed cases in the country that institutes it.

Similarly, the authors highlight the need to introduce several policies at the same time to increase their combined effectiveness. Such policies are based on social isolation  they limit human contact to reduce the transmission of the disease. In the case of South Korea, these include social avoidance, quarantine for infected persons, and isolation of all individuals regardless of their infection status (Hoseinpour Dehkordi et al., 2020). This has led to South Korea having a case fatality rate to be seven times lower than Italy, which did not institute these policies (Hoseinpour Dehkordi et al., 2020). Thus, the use of several policies seems to be the most effective in preventing the increased spread of COVID-19.

Reference

Hoseinpour Dehkordi, A., Alizadeh, M., Derakhshan, P., Babazadeh, P., & Jahandideh, A. (2020). Understanding epidemic data and statistics: A case study of COVID19.Journal of Medical Virology, 92(7), 868-882.Web.