Situating ‘careful surveillance’

2021 ◽  
pp. 136787792199745
Author(s):  
Mark Andrejevic ◽  
Hugh Davies ◽  
Ruth DeSouza ◽  
Larissa Hjorth ◽  
Ingrid Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

In this article we explore preliminary findings from the study COVIDSafe and Beyond: Perceptions and Practices conducted in Australia in 2020. The study involved a survey followed by interviews, and aimed to capture the dynamic ways in which members of the Australian public perceive the impact of Covid practices – especially public health measures like the introduction of physical and social distancing, compulsory mask wearing, and contact tracing. In the rescripting of public space, different notions of formal and informal surveillance, along with different textures of mediated and social care, appeared. In this article, we explore perceptions around divergent forms of surveillance across social, technological, governmental modes, and the relationship of surveillance to care in our media and cultural practices. What does it mean to care for self and others during a pandemic? How does care get enacted in, and through, media interfaces and public interaction?

scholarly journals Harnessing testing strategies and public health measures to avert COVID-19 outbreaks during ocean cruises

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Chowell ◽  
Sushma Dahal ◽  
Raquel Bono ◽  
Kenji Mizumoto
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Contact Network ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Testing Strategies ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

AbstractTo ensure the safe operation of schools, workplaces, nursing homes, and other businesses during COVID-19 pandemic there is an urgent need to develop cost-effective public health strategies. Here we focus on the cruise industry which was hit early by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 40 cruise ships reporting COVID-19 infections. We apply mathematical modeling to assess the impact of testing strategies together with social distancing protocols on the spread of the novel coronavirus during ocean cruises using an individual-level stochastic model of the transmission dynamics of COVID-19. We model the contact network, the potential importation of cases arising during shore excursions, the temporal course of infectivity at the individual level, the effects of social distancing strategies, different testing scenarios characterized by the test’s sensitivity profile, and testing frequency. Our findings indicate that PCR testing at embarkation and daily testing of all individuals aboard, together with increased social distancing and other public health measures, should allow for rapid detection and isolation of COVID-19 infections and dramatically reducing the probability of onboard COVID-19 community spread. In contrast, relying only on PCR testing at embarkation would not be sufficient to avert outbreaks, even when implementing substantial levels of social distancing measures.

scholarly journals Mathematical Parameters of the COVID-19 Epidemic in Brazil and Evaluation of the Impact of Different Public Health Measures

Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato M. Cotta ◽  
Carolina P. Naveira-Cotta ◽  
Pierre Magal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Time Variable ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Problem Model ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Impact

A SIRU-type epidemic model is employed for the prediction of the COVID-19 epidemy evolution in Brazil, and analyze the influence of public health measures on simulating the control of this infectious disease. The proposed model allows for a time variable functional form of both the transmission rate and the fraction of asymptomatic infectious individuals that become reported symptomatic individuals, to reflect public health interventions, towards the epidemy control. An exponential analytical behavior for the accumulated reported cases evolution is assumed at the onset of the epidemy, for explicitly estimating initial conditions, while a Bayesian inference approach is adopted for the estimation of parameters by employing the direct problem model with the data from the first phase of the epidemy evolution, represented by the time series for the reported cases of infected individuals. The evolution of the COVID-19 epidemy in China is considered for validation purposes, by taking the first part of the dataset of accumulated reported infectious individuals to estimate the related parameters, and retaining the rest of the evolution data for direct comparison with the predicted results. Then, the available data on reported cases in Brazil from 15 February until 29 March, is used for estimating parameters and then predicting the first phase of the epidemy evolution from these initial conditions. The data for the reported cases in Brazil from 30 March until 23 April are reserved for validation of the model. Then, public health interventions are simulated, aimed at evaluating the effects on the disease spreading, by acting on both the transmission rate and the fraction of the total number of the symptomatic infectious individuals, considering time variable exponential behaviors for these two parameters. This first constructed model provides fairly accurate predictions up to day 65 below 5% relative deviation, when the data starts detaching from the theoretical curve. From the simulated public health intervention measures through five different scenarios, it was observed that a combination of careful control of the social distancing relaxation and improved sanitary habits, together with more intensive testing for isolation of symptomatic cases, is essential to achieve the overall control of the disease and avoid a second more strict social distancing intervention. Finally, the full dataset available by the completion of the present work is employed in redefining the model to yield updated epidemy evolution estimates.

The Impact of Law on Coronary Heart Disease: Some Preliminary Observations on the Relationship of Law to “Normalized” Conditions

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 608-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy E. Parmet
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Coronary Heart Disease ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between law and a population’s health is complex and poorly understood. To the extent that scholarship exists on the subject, it has usually focused on epidemics that are concentrated in relatively vulnerable, marginalized communities. Often, individual behaviors are assumed to play a major role in the epidemiology of these diseases. Perhaps, as a result, these illnesses become stigmatized and the object of coercive laws, which in turn become the subject of litigation, legal debate, and ultimately scholarly analysis. Thus, to the extent that U.S. legal scholars have thought about public health in the last 30 years (and they seldom have), they have generally done so in the context of tuberculosis (TB), intravenous drug abuse, and a handful of similar conditions. Likewise, Jonathan Mann’s own appreciation of the importance of human rights to public health emerged in the wake of his work with HIV, which is perhaps the prototypical stigmatized disease.

scholarly journals Reduced COVID-19-Related Critical Illness and Death, and High Risk of Epidemic Resurgence, After Physical Distancing in Ontario, Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashleigh Tuite ◽  
Amy L Greer ◽  
Steven De Keninck ◽  
David N Fisman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Activity ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Transmission Model ◽  
Case Detection ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Initial Wave ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Near Term ◽  
The Impact

We explored the impact of physical distancing measures on COVID-19 transmission in the population of Ontario, Canada using a previously described age- and health-status stratified transmission model. The model was fit to confirmed cases occupying intensive care unit (ICU) beds and mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 cases for the time period 19 March to 26 April 2020. We projected that mortality would have been 4.6-fold what was observed had physical distancing measures not been implemented in the province. Relaxation of physical distancing measures without compensatory increases in case detection, isolation, and/or contact tracing was projected to result in resurgence of disease activity. Return to normal or near-normal levels of contact would rapidly result in cases exceeding ICU capacity. Maintaining physical distancing for a longer period of time, allowing for the initial wave of infections to subside, delayed this resurgence, but the level of contacts post-restrictive distancing was the major factor determining how quickly ICU capacity was expected to be overwhelmed. Using a model, we demonstrate the marked impact strong public health measures had in reducing ICU admissions and mortality in Ontario. We also show that this hard-earned success is tenuous: relaxation of physical distancing measures in the near-term is projected to result in a rapid resurgence of disease activity.

scholarly journals A economia urbana e os artistas de rua: performance, mobilidades e conflitos em um espaço público turistificado

GeoTextos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
António Cláudio do Nascimento Silva ◽  
Daniel Paiva
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Economy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sensory Experiences ◽  
Historic Centre ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

<p>Este artigo pretende refletir sobre a complexa relação entre os artistas de rua, as suas performances e o espaço urbano. Para esta reflexão, baseamo-nos num estudo desenvolvido na Baixa lisboeta, localizada no centro histórico da cidade de Lisboa, Portugal. Metodologicamente, o estudo implicou observação sombreada com recurso a caminhadas e à videografia entre 2016 e 2021, bem como um conjunto de 15 entrevistas realizadas a artistas de rua em 2018. Conceptualmente, o estudo recorre ao crescente corpo de bibliografia no âmbito da geografia sensorial e da etnomusicologia, nomeadamente em relação aos artistas de rua e às suas performances, e a sua intersecção com questões económicas, os aspetos da urbanidade, a influência do turismo e as experiências sensoriais. Os nossos resultados desvendam o processo de territorialização dos locais de performance na Baixa lisboeta, o impacto das performances artísticas no espaço público, e a relação dos artistas de rua com os agentes formais da economia urbana. Concluímos o artigo com uma breve reflexão sobre a importância do turismo para a expansão do busking.</p><p><span>Abstract</span></p><p>URBAN ECONOMY AND STREET ARTISTS: PERFORMANCE, MOBILITY, AND CONFLICT IN A TOURISTIFIED PUBLIC SPACE</p><p>This article reflects on the complex relationship between street artists, their performances and urban space. For this reflection, we draw upon a study conducted in the Baixa, located in the historic centre of the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Methodologically, the study involved shadowed observation, including walks and videography, which took place between 2016 and 2021, as well as a set of 15 interviews with street artists which were conducted in 2018. Conceptually, the study draws upon the growing body of works within the scope of sensory geography and ethnomusicology, namely regarding street artists and their performances, and their intersection with economic issues, aspects of urbanity, the influence of tourism and sensory experiences. Our results reveal the process of territorialization of performance sites in Lisbon’s Baixa, the impact of artistic performances in the public space, and the relationship of street artists with the formal agents of the urban economy. We conclude the article with a brief reflection on the significance of tourism for the expansion of busking.</p>

scholarly journals A Model Based Analysis for COVID-19 Pandemic in India: Implications for Health Systems and Policy for Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shankar Prinja ◽  
Pankaj Bahuguna ◽  
Yashika Chugh ◽  
Anna Vassall ◽  
Arvind Pandey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
System Response ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackgroundOur analysis aims to model COVID-19 pandemic in India, potential impact of various measures, along with assessment of health system preparedness and cost to manage the epidemic.MethodsWe developed a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) mathematical model to predict the health outcomes under an unmitigated scenario which comprises of air travel restrictions alone, and the current scenario consisting of air travel restrictions along with 8-week lockdown. In addition, we also evaluate the effectiveness of 8-week lockdown along with intensified public health measures at varying level of effectiveness. We assessed the impact of these interventions on COVID-19 related health outcomes in comparison to the unmitigated scenario. Next, we ascertain the need for augmenting infrastructure and the costs of COVID-19 management in India.FindingsIn the event of a lockdown for 8 weeks, the peak of the epidemic shifts by 34-76 days, and the number of cases at the end of 8-week lockdown reduces by 69% to 97% with varying effectiveness of lockdown. However, the cumulative long-term cases remain the same. Intensification of public health surveillance measures with 60% effectiveness is estimated to reduce the cases at peak and cumulative number of infections by 70% and 26.6% respectively. The requirement of ICU beds and ventilators would reduce by 83% with intensified public health measures. The cost of managing COVID-19 in India is nearly 4.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the absence of any intervention which increases to 6.2% with intensified public health measures for COVID-19 response.ConclusionLockdown measures delay the onset of peak, and give much needed time to health system to prepare. Strengthening the public health system response in terms of testing, isolation treatment of cases, and contact tracing needs would lead to significant gains in terms of case load, and meeting health system needs.SummaryWhat is already known?A few studies have been carried out in Indian context to model the epidemic. These models explored the impact of lockdowns and social distancing measures focusing more on the course of the epidemic but none of these evaluated the impact on health system’s response needed as well as the economic impact of COVID-19 management in India. The findings from these studies are limited in a sense that either these studies evaluated the hypothetical scenarios of strategies implemented or focusing to smaller geographical regions in India.What are the new findings?Evidence pertaining to health economic impact of COVID-19 management, in context to Low- and Middle-Income countries, is very limited. To address this, we used the susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered (SEIR) model to assess:the health system preparedness challenge in terms of hospital beds for isolation, intensive care and ventilators which would be required to manage the epidemic and the economic implications of managing the COVID-19 pandemic in India.the incremental cost of intensified public health measures per infection and per death averted.What do the new finding imply?In India, measures such as lockdowns would certainly delays the onset of peak of COVID-19 epidemic. This would help delay the surge of cases, which would buy time for the health system to prepare. Strengthening the health system response in terms of enhanced testing, isolation of cases, treatment and contact tracing, as is being done currently, would have to be the mainstay to reduce the impact of the pandemic in terms of reduction in infected population and COID-19 deaths in India until vaccine becomes available.

scholarly journals The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada and the Relationship of Public Health Laws to Private Understandings of the Legal Order1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Tremblay-Huet ◽  
Thomas McMorrow ◽  
Ellen Wiebe ◽  
Michaela Kelly ◽  
Mirna Hennawy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Nurse Practitioners ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Medical Assistance In Dying ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Health Laws ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Drawing on interviews we conducted with fifteen MAiD providers from across Canada, we examine how physicians and nurse practitioners reconcile respect for the new, changing rules brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with their existing legal obligations and ethical commitments as health care professionals and MAiD providers. Our respondents reported situations where they did not follow or did not insist on others following the applicable public health rules. We identify a variety of techniques that they deployed either to minimize, rationalize, justify or excuse deviations from the relevant public health rules. They implicitly invoked the exceptionality and emotionality of the MAiD context, especially in the time of COVID, when offering their accounts and explanations. What respondents relate about their experiences providing MAiD during the COVID pandemic offers occasion to reflect on the role actors themselves play in giving meaning (if not coherence) to the potentially conflicting normative expectations to which they are subject.

scholarly journals Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being and virtual care for people living with dementia and care partners living in the community

Dementia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147130122097763
Author(s):  
Pamela Roach ◽  
Angela Zwiers ◽  
Emily Cox ◽  
Karyn Fischer ◽  
Anna Charlton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Care Partners ◽  
Field Note ◽  
Informal Supports ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated public health measures that have impacted the provision of care for people living with dementia and their families. Additionally, the isolation that results from social distancing may be harming well-being for families as formal and informal supports become less accessible. For those living with dementia and experiencing agitation, social distancing may be even harder to maintain, or social distancing could potentially aggravate dementia-related neuropsychiatric symptoms. To understand the lived experience of social and physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, we remotely interviewed 21 participants who normally attend a dementia specialty clinic in Calgary, Alberta, during a period where essential businesses were closed and health care had abruptly transitioned to telemedicine. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview and field note data. The impacts of the public health measures in response to the pandemic emerged through iterative analysis in three main categories of experience: (1) personal, (2) health services, and (3) health status (of both persons living with dementia and care partner). Isolation and mental health needs emerged as important impacts to family experiences. This in-depth understanding of the needs and experiences of the pandemic for people living with dementia suggests that innovative means are urgently needed to facilitate provision of remote medicine and also social interaction and integration.

scholarly journals Harnessing testing strategies and public health measures to avert COVID-19 outbreaks during ocean cruises

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Chowell ◽  
Sushma Dahal ◽  
Raquel Bono ◽  
Kenji Mizumoto
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Contact Network ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Testing Strategies ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

AbstractTo ensure the safe operation of schools, workplaces, nursing homes, and other businesses during COVID-19 pandemic there is an urgent need to develop cost-effective public health strategies. Here we focus on the cruise industry which was hit early by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 40 cruise ships reporting COVID-19 infections. We apply mathematical modeling to assess the impact of testing strategies together with social distancing protocols on the spread of the novel coronavirus during ocean cruises using an individual-level stochastic model of the transmission dynamics of COVID-19. We model the contact network, the potential importation of cases arising during shore excursions, the temporal course of infectivity at the individual level, the effects of social distancing strategies, different testing scenarios characterized by the test’s sensitivity profile, and the testing frequency. Our findings indicate that PCR testing at embarkation and daily testing of all individuals aboard, together with increased social distancing and other public health measures, should allow for rapid detection and isolation of COVID-19 infections and dramatically reducing the probability of onboard COVID-19 community spread. In contrast, relying only on PCR testing at embarkation would not be sufficient to avert outbreaks, even when implementing substantial levels of social distancing measures.

scholarly journals Molecular epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Greece reveals low rates of onward virus transmission after lifting of travel restrictions based on risk assessment during summer 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangelia Georgia Kostaki ◽  
Georgios A. Pavlopoulos ◽  
Kleio-Maria Verrou ◽  
Giannis Ampatziadis-Michailidis ◽  
Vaggelis Harokopos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Molecular Epidemiology ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractMolecular epidemiology has provided an additive value to traditional public health tools by identifying SARS-CoV-2 clusters, or providing evidence that clusters based on virus sequences and contact tracing are highly concordant. Our aim was to infer the levels of virus importation and to estimate the impact of public health measures related to travel restrictions to local transmission in Greece. Our phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses included 389 SARS-CoV-2 sequences collected during the first 7 months of the pandemic in Greece and a random collection in 5 replicates of 3,000 sequences sampled globally, as well as the best hits to our dataset identified by BLAST. Phylogenetic analyses revealed the presence of 70 genetically distinct viruses identified as independent introductions into Greece. The proportion of imported strains was 41%, 11.5%, and 8.8% during the three periods of sampling, namely, March (no travel restrictions), April to June (strict travel restrictions), and July to September (lifting of travel restrictions based on a thorough risk assessment), respectively. These findings reveal low levels of onward transmission from imported cases during summer and underscore the importance of targeted public health measures that can increase the safety of international travel during a pandemic.

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