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COVID-19: Public Health Response
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COVID-19: Public Health Response

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 16400

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tafadzwa Dzinamarira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. School of Health Systems & Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
2. ICAP, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Interests: COVID-19; public health response; public health policy; health systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Grant Murewanhema

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
Interests: SARS-CoV-2; HIV/AIDS; epidemiology; health systems; infectious diseases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic, which is now almost two years old, has had an unprecedented impact worldwide. However, different continents, countries, and regions have experienced varying degrees of severity, related to a number of factors. Some of these include the extent of SARS-CoV-2 local transmission, population, and geographical factors as well as the speed and effectiveness of the different epidemic responses implemented by the different authorities. Different countries have mounted different response strategies, eliciting varied outcomes. COVID-19 descriptive epidemiology and the analysis of the prevention and control measures implemented while assessing their effectiveness remain important in informing public health responses. The ability to share experiences on what has and has not worked can be valuable as policymakers and other stakeholders determine the steps forward and back to determine lessons learned in the pandemic response. Moreover, as the world prepares to live with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, important lessons can be derived from the experiences to date, to inform the future. Additionally, lessons from the current COVID-19 responses will be valuable for pandemics other than COVID-19 that may arise in the future. This Special Issue, “COVID-19: Public Health Response”, will include viewpoints, reviews, and primary research studies focusing on the COVID-19 public health response. Specifically, manuscripts falling under the themes of policy framework; risk communication and community engagement; surveillance, rapid response teams, and case investigation; infection prevention and control; case management and continuity of essential services; public health laboratory systems; point of entry; and COVID-19 vaccine logistics, supply, and distribution will be considered. There is underrepresentation in the literature of studies from low-to-middle income countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the submission of manuscripts from these resource-limited settings is strongly encouraged.

Dr. Tafadzwa Dzinamarira
Dr. Grant Murewanhema
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • public health response
  • public health policy
  • health systems

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 250 KiB  
Editorial
The COVID-19 Pandemic: Public Health Responses in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Grant Murewanhema and Tafadzwa Dzinamarira
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(8), 4448; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084448 - 7 Apr 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2226
Abstract
The World Health Organisation declared the ongoing COVID-19 global health challenge a pandemic in March 2020. Since then, countries across the globe have implemented different public health control strategies—including global vaccination programs—in attempts to mitigate the further transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome [...] Read more.
The World Health Organisation declared the ongoing COVID-19 global health challenge a pandemic in March 2020. Since then, countries across the globe have implemented different public health control strategies—including global vaccination programs—in attempts to mitigate the further transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. However, to date, the virus has continued to spread rapidly despite these interventions. Countries across sub-Saharan Africa have implemented variable control strategies to combat the pandemic; however, despite the continent being among the least affected in terms of direct case burden, morbidity, and mortality, it has experienced marked socioeconomic disruption. Therefore, economic resuscitation is an urgent priority. The continent is vastly underrepresented in the body of scientific evidence due to limited research resources, testing capacity and genomic surveillance leading to empirical responses or responses guided by evidence from elsewhere. To inform the ongoing pandemic, and to prepare for the future, this Special Issue calls for manuscripts on global COVID-19 responses, and encourages researchers and stakeholders from resource-limited settings, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, to share their COVID-19 public health responses. Areas to be covered include, but are not limited to, surveillance, case management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement, logistics, laboratory, ports of entry, and co-ordination. Manuscripts including primary research, viewpoints/perspectives, and comprehensive literature reviews are all welcome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Public Health Response)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

10 pages, 1474 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Drug/Alcohol Use Prevalence in a Population with Substance Use Disorders
by Alessio Gili, Massimo Lancia, Angela Gambelunghe, Luca Tomassini, Alessia Nicoletti, Kyriaki Aroni and Cristiana Gambelunghe
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(13), 6261; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20136261 - 30 Jun 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2276
Abstract
As time passes, the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming increasingly apparent. The extreme restrictions imposed during the pandemic have had detrimental impacts on the most vulnerable groups, such as individuals suffering from substance and/or alcohol disorders (SUDs). This study reports [...] Read more.
As time passes, the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are becoming increasingly apparent. The extreme restrictions imposed during the pandemic have had detrimental impacts on the most vulnerable groups, such as individuals suffering from substance and/or alcohol disorders (SUDs). This study reports quarterly laboratory data on alcohol and drug use in 150 subjects with SUDs that were examined using hair analysis for 2 years before the start of pandemic until after the end of the Italian health emergency. Overall, it was found that the number of subjects who used heroin, cocaine, and MDMA all decreased during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, increasing during reopening and subsequently stabilizing close to pre-COVID levels. Cannabis use was less impacted, remaining stable throughout the pandemic. Alcohol and benzodiazepine use both increased significantly during the lockdowns, displaying an opposing trend. While benzodiazepine use progressively returned to baseline levels, alcohol remained at significantly increased levels, even in September 2022. Long-term heavy drinking combined with substance use should be seriously considered, since these results in several health and social problems alongside alcohol-related comorbidities. Thus, appropriate response plans should be implemented both during and after the pandemic, whilst focusing on those who are most vulnerable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Public Health Response)
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13 pages, 347 KiB  
Article
Variation in Global Policy Responses to COVID-19: A Bidirectional Analysis
by Caixia Wang and Huijie Li
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4252; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054252 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1529
Abstract
Against the unprecedented outbreaks of the COVID-19 variants, countries have introduced restrictive measures with discretion, ranging from lifting the closure thoroughly to implementing stringent policies, but all together guarding the global public health. Under the changing circumstances, we firstly apply the panel data [...] Read more.
Against the unprecedented outbreaks of the COVID-19 variants, countries have introduced restrictive measures with discretion, ranging from lifting the closure thoroughly to implementing stringent policies, but all together guarding the global public health. Under the changing circumstances, we firstly apply the panel data vector autoregression (PVAR) model, using a sample of 176 countries/territories from 15 June 2021 to 15 April 2022, to estimate the potential associations among the policy responses, the progression of COVID-19 in deaths and vaccination, and medical resources possessed. Furthermore, we use the random effect method and the fixed effect speculation, to examine the determinants of policy variances across regions and over time. Our work has four main findings. Firstly, it showed the existence of a bidirectional relationship between the policy stringency and variables of interest including new daily deaths, the fully vaccinated percentage and health capacity. Secondly, conditional on the availability of vaccines, the sensitivity of policy responses to the death numbers tends to decline. Thirdly, the role of health capacity matters in coexisting with the virus mutation. Fourthly, regarding the variance in policy responses over time, the impact of new deaths tends to be seasonal. As to geographical differences in policy responses, we present the analysis for Asia, Europe, and Africa, and they show different levels of dependencies on the determinants. These findings suggest that bidirectional correlations exist in the complex context of wrestling with the COVID-19, as government interventions exert influence on the virus spread, the policy responses also progress alongside multiple factors evolving in the pandemic. This study will help policymakers, practitioners, and academia to formulate a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between policy responses and the contextualized implementation factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Public Health Response)
15 pages, 1014 KiB  
Article
Excessive Food Buying in Saudi Arabia Amid COVID-19: Examining the Effects of Perceived Severity, Religiosity, Consumption Culture and Attitude toward Behavior
by Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(4), 3126; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043126 - 10 Feb 2023
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2203
Abstract
The current study builds on both the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to examine why consumers in Saudi Arabia engage in excessive food-buying behavior amid COVID-19. The study tests the direct impact of food consumption culture, perceived severity [...] Read more.
The current study builds on both the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to examine why consumers in Saudi Arabia engage in excessive food-buying behavior amid COVID-19. The study tests the direct impact of food consumption culture, perceived severity of COVID-19, and religiosity on excessive food-buying intentions and the indirect effect through attitudes toward excessive food buying. The results of the inner model using SmartPLS4 showed that the perceived severity of COVID-19 has a direct significant positive effect on attitudes toward excessive food buying and excessive food-buying intention. Despite food consumption culture being found to have no direct significant effect on excessive food-buying intention during the pandemic, it has a direct effect on attitudes toward excessive food buying. Surprisingly, religiosity was found to have a positive effect on consumers’ attitudes and excessive food-buying intentions. The results confirm that consumers misunderstood Islamic religious principles regarding food consumption, which does not accept excessive buying or food waste. Attitudes toward excessive food buying were found to mediate the relationship between food consumption culture, perceived severity of COVID-19, religiosity, and excessive food-buying intention. The results of the study are discussed and implications are highlighted for academics and policymakers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Public Health Response)
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32 pages, 854 KiB  
Article
Public Health Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia: The Role of the Morrison Government
by Stephen Duckett
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(16), 10400; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191610400 - 20 Aug 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6927
Abstract
The Australian Commonwealth government has four health-related responsibilities during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: to provide national leadership; to manage external borders; to protect residents of residential aged care facilities; and to approve, procure and roll-out tests and vaccines. State governments are responsible for determining [...] Read more.
The Australian Commonwealth government has four health-related responsibilities during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: to provide national leadership; to manage external borders; to protect residents of residential aged care facilities; and to approve, procure and roll-out tests and vaccines. State governments are responsible for determining what public health measures are appropriate and implementing them—including managing the border quarantine arrangements and the testing, tracing, and isolation regime—and managing the hospital response. This paper analyses the national government’s response to the pandemic and discusses why it has attracted a thesaurus of negative adjectives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19: Public Health Response)
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