Probably the best general health advice out there.

Sadique, M. Z., Devlin, N., Edmunds, W. J., & Parkin, D. (2013). The Effect of Perceived Risks on the Demand for Vaccination: Results from a Discrete Choice Experiment. PLoS ONE, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054149

Brewer NT, Chapman GB, Gibbons FX, Gerrard M, McCaul KD, Weinstein ND. Meta-analysis of the relationship between risk perception and health behavior: the example of vaccination. Health Psychol. 2007;26(2):136–45. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.26.2.136

Risk perceptions: Assessment and relationship to influenza vaccination. - PsycNET. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2021, from https://content.apa.org/record/2007-03487-003

Leask, J., Kinnersley, P., Jackson, C., Cheater, F., Bedford, H., & Rowles, G. (2012). Communicating with parents about vaccination: A framework for health professionals. BMC Pediatrics, 12(1), 154. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2431-12-154

Collins, F. E. (2020, July 6). The Contagion Fear and Threat Scale: Measuring COVID-19 Fear in Australian, Indian, and Nepali University Students. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/4s65q

Cardozo Law Review. „COVID-19 and Digital Contact Tracing: Regulating the Future of Public Health Surveillance“, 27. Januar 2021. https://cardozolawreview.com/covid-19-and-digital-contact-tracing-regulating-the-future-of-public-health-surveillance/.

Schmid, P., Rauber, D., Betsch, C., Lidolt, G., & Denker, M.-L. (2017). Barriers of Influenza Vaccination Intention and Behavior – A Systematic Review of Influenza Vaccine Hesitancy, 2005 – 2016. PLoS ONE, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170550

Brewer, N. T., Chapman, G. B., Rothman, A. J., Leask, J., & Kempe, A. (2017). Increasing Vaccination: Putting Psychological Science Into Action. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 18(3), 149–207. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100618760521

Brewer, N. T., Chapman, G. B., Rothman, A. J., Leask, J., & Kempe, A. (2017). Increasing Vaccination: Putting Psychological Science Into Action. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 18(3), 149–207. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100618760521

Boseley. S., (2020/06/22). Why doctors say UK is better prepared for second wave of coronavirus. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/22/why-doctors-say-uk-better-prepared-for-second-wave-coronavirus?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

u/nick_chater (2020) Issue Radar: Is advice getting too complicated? And what can be done? Reddit. Retrieved from https://www.reddit.com/r/BehSciAsk/comments/hjaib5/issue_radar_is_advice_getting_too_complicated_and/

Researchers and Their Stories (2020) WEBINAR: Managing your mental health is an ongoing journey – Let's embrace the process!. Retrieved from https://www.editage.com/insights/managing-your-mental-health-is-an-ongoing-journey-lets-embrace-the-process

Ward. J., Alleaume. C., Peretti-Watel P (2020) The French public’s attitudes to a future COVID-19 vaccine: the politicization of a public health issue. SocArXiv Papers. Retrieved from https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/xphe9/

Marill. M. C. (2018). 98.6 Degrees Is a Normal Body Temperature, Right? Not Quite. WIRED. Retrieved from: https://www.wired.com/story/98-degrees-is-a-normal-body-temperature-right-not-quite/

Ball. P. (2020) Pandemic science and politics.. Retrieved from: chrome-extension://bjfhmglciegochdpefhhlphglcehbmek/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thelancet.com%2Faction%2FshowPdf%3Fpii%3DS0140-6736%252820%252931594-4

Brodeur. A.., Clark. A. E., Fleche. S., Powdthavee. N. (2020). COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-​Being: Evidence from Google Trends. Institute of Labor Economics. Retrieved from: https://covid-19.iza.org/publications/dp13204/

Papageorge. N. W., Zahn. M. V. Belot. M., van den Broek-Altenburg. E., Choi. S., Jamison. J. C., (2020). Socio-​Demographic Factors Associated with Self-​Protecting Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Institute of Labor Economics. Retrieved from: https://covid-19.iza.org/publications/dp13333/

Naudé. W., (2020). Artificial Intelligence against COVID-19: An Early Review. Institute of Labor Economics. Retrieved from: https://covid-19.iza.org/publications/dp13110/

Bloomberg. (2020). Bloomberg Prognosis: How Covid-19 is Reshaping the Global Healthcare Ecosystem. Retrieved from: https://onlinexperiences.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&ShowUUID=CB925306-099F-4D23-8526-0FDD06AC15C8&LangLocaleID=1033&AffiliateDate=TW

104-year-old PhD student advices to:

• eat a lot of fruits
• take cold showers
• have some time to walk around and think
• pay attention to discipline
• study, study, study

ReconfigBehSci [@SciBeh] (2020, August) I'm familiar with those constraints/arguments- but keeping family members of infected individuals isolated is one of the most basic public health measure - it surely would be legal to mandate, particularly given the role pre/asymptomatic spread? no? Twitter. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1295726328994566144

Dr Ellie Murray [@EpiEllie] (2020-08/18) Sneak peek: I’m doing a Reddit #AMA on Aug 27! I’m a total Reddit newbie. What do I need to know? Twitter

Masuyama, A., Kubo, T., Sugawara, D., & Chishima, Y. (2020). Interest consistency can buffer the effect of COVID-19 fear on psychological distress. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ygz37

Smith, R., Myrick, J. G., Lennon, R. P., Martin, M. A., Small, M. L., Scoy, L. J. V., & Group, D. R. (2020). Optimizing COVID-19 Health Campaigns: A Person-Centered Approach. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/xuefh

Organization, W. H. (2020). Behavioural considerations for acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines: WHO technical advisory group on behavioural insights and sciences for health, meeting report, 15 October 2020. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/337335

As vaccines start rolling out, here’s what our research says about communication and coronavirus. (n.d.). Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Retrieved 13 January 2021, from https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/vaccines-start-rolling-out-heres-what-our-research-says-about-communication-and

I wonder if patients have edit - or at least, flag - information in their record?

Bu Experts {@BU Experts} (2020) How can we navigate daily life during the pandemic? #Publichealth expert & epidemiologist @EpiEllie will be on @reddit_AMA this Thursday (8/27) at 12pm ET to answer all of your #COVID19-related questions. She'll discuss how to safely see friends and family, travel & more. @BUSPH. Twitter. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/BUexperts/status/1297932614909792258

WearingisCaring {@WearingisCaring} (2020) How can you safely take off your mask? Simply follow these four easy steps to prevent catching the virus! Twitter. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/WearingisCaring/status/1295707116880134145

Weiskittle, R. E., Mlinac, M., & Nicole Downing, L. (2020, August 25). Addressing COVID-19 Worry and Social Isolation in Home-Based Primary Care. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/483zv

Allen. W. E. (2020) Population-scale longitudinal mapping of COVID-19 symptoms, behaviour and testing. Nature human behaviour. Retrieved from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-00944-2?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nathumbehav%2Frss%2Fcurrent+%28Nature+Human+Behaviour%29

Is this an example of de jure or de facto racism and discrimination? Explain your thinking.

Who do you think these experts were? How might that have changed?

Ontario going in lockdown after the 26 December.

Public Health Ontario are you following this? If this is not the case the entire "brain trust" should summarily dismissed.

Ledford, H., Cyranoski, D., & Noorden, R. V. (2020). The UK has approved a COVID vaccine—Here’s what scientists now want to know. Nature, 588(7837), 205–206. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03441-8

Finding it hard to sleep might be either because of the blue light or the psychological effect of screens on us

20-20-20 rule (screen-free break technique)

The true reason of dry eyes: rare blinking

How We Can Stop the Spread of Coronavirus by Christmas. (n.d.). Time. Retrieved December 17, 2020, from https://time.com/5912705/covid-19-stop-spread-christmas/

Marshall. M., (2020) How COVID-19 can damage the brain. nature. Retrieved from:https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02599-5?utm_source=twt_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturenews&sf237834255=1

ReconfigBehSci {@SciBeh} (2020) The pandemic proves we all should know ‘psychological first aid.’ Here are the basics. /lifestyle/wellness/pandemic-psychological-first-aid-anxiety/2020/09/21/7c68d746-fc23-11ea-9ceb-061d646d9c67_story.html?tid=ss_tw. Twitter. Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/SciBeh/status/1308461925785837573

The takeaway: The official definition of a "close contact" for COVID-19 is not foolproof.

The claim: The official definition of a "close contact" - 15 minutes, within six feet - isn't foolproof.

The evidence: In Korea, a person sitting in a restaurant 6.5 meters (>20ft) away from the COVID index case for five minutes was infected, most likely because airflow from the air conditioner carried droplets with COVID-19 from the infected person to the person who became infected (1). How common transmission across large distances occurs is still debated (2). As several indoor outbreaks were attributed to airborne transmission, precautions to prevent airborne COVID transmission are needed (3). Examples include better air filtration/UV to kill virus in the system, increased air flow from outside, avoidance of recirculating interior air, and avoiding overcrowding in interior spaces.

Sources:

1) https://jkms.org/DOIx.php?id=10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e415

2) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166093420302858?via%3Dihub

3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7454469/pdf/ciaa939.pdf

Achakulwisut, P. (n.d.). The U.S. Risks Locking In a Climate Health Crisis in Response to COVID. Scientific American. Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-u-s-risks-locking-in-a-climate-health-crisis-in-response-to-covid/

(4) Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/harvardpublichealth/videos/881117569360098/

Sisson, N. M., Willroth, E. C., Le, B. M., & Ford, B. Q. (2020, December 1). The Mental Health Effects of Living with Close Others Before, During, and After the Onset of COVID-19. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/v9mc4

Cameron, E. E., Joyce, K. M., Rollins, K., & Roos, L. E. (2020, November 29). Paternal Depression & Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/drs9u

Public health departments world wide are failing.

The cure is worse than the disease.

Długosz, P. (2020). Factors influencing mental health among American youth in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8npyc

Marmet, S., Wicki, M., Gmel, G., Gachoud, C., Daeppen, J.-B., Bertholet, N., & Studer, J. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis on young Swiss men participating in a cohort study. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kwxhd

The takeaway: While minimal protection occurs when a mask is worn in a place where many others are not wearing a mask, community masking is associated with a reduction in COVID cases.

The claim: In a community with modest infection rates, some social distancing, and most people not wearing masks, wearing a surgical mask did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate by more than 50%.

The evidence: This study showed that wearing a mask in a community where most people did not wear a mask, did not reduce the risk of getting infected by 50%. Fewer COVID infections were reported in the mask group than in the unmasked group. This study agrees with a meta analysis which showed that masks resulted in a decrease in infections but did not prevent all infections (1) According to the CDC, seven studies have shown community level benefit when masking recommendations were made (2).

When most in the community are not wearing masks, social distancing, and washing hands, wearing a mask alone provides minimal protection to the mask wearer. Community wide masking is associated with a reduction in COVID cases (2).

Sources:

1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29140516/

2) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html

• Researchers studied 242 patients (under 60 and over 60 years old) who attended a weight-loss programme, most of them morbidly obese.
• Results show no differences between age groups, proving that weight loss is as important for older people - even more so - as for younger people.
• The programme was based on lifestyle-based changes - diet, physical activity and psychological support - and showed similar results regardless of age.
• People often don’t care about weight loss in older people, and this study shows that it’s a very harmful perspective to adopt.

• Clinical trial with 35 people over 64 years old shows that oxygen therapy can reverse two key indicators of biological ageing - telomere length, and senescent cells.
• Telomeres are protective caps at the end of chromosomes, and senescent cells are malfunctioning, old cells.
• Patients were placed in a pressurised chamber and given pure oxygen for 90 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 3 months.
• At the end, telomere length increased by 20% on average, and senescent cells were reduced by 37% - equivalent to a 25 years younger biological-cellular state.
• The results are incomparable to lifestyle changes / exercise / diets, and researchers say it’s thanks to inducing cell regeneration through hypoxia (oxygen shortage).

A Thought Diary will help you find triggers when you write down things that went wrong and your accompanying feelings.

An example would be how not meeting a deadline made you feel. What happened right after you realized you didn't meet the deadline?

A manager can sit down with the affected employee and write an wellness action plan. This will include:

• Employee's mental health problems
• Triggers within the workplace
• A strategy to work together with employee to help them improve in the workplace.
• A list of actions that can be done. e.g. Counseling, reduce working time, set limits with coworkers

Mulukom, V. van, Pummerer, L., Alper, S., Bai, (Max) Hui, Cavojova, V., Farias, J. E. M., Kay, C. S., Lazarevic, L., Lobato, E. J. C., Marinthe, G., Banai, I. P., Šrol, J., & Zezelj, I. (2020). Antecedents and consequences of COVID-19 conspiracy theories: A rapid review of the evidence. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/u8yah

CohenNov. 16, J., 2020, & Am, 7:00. (2020, November 16). ‘Just beautiful’: Another COVID-19 vaccine, from newcomer Moderna, succeeds in large-scale trial. Science | AAAS. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/just-beautiful-another-covid-19-vaccine-newcomer-moderna-succeeds-large-scale-trial

Agarwal, A. (2020). Ripple Effect of a Pandemic: Analysis of the Psychological Stress Landscape during COVID19. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/nat49

Samaritans responds to NCISH’s 2020 suicide figures in England. (n.d.). Samaritans. Retrieved 18 November 2020, from https://www.samaritans.org/news/samaritans-responds-ncish-new-suicide-figures-england/

Take away: Though the number of COVID deaths prevented and the exact number of years lost due directly to decreases in mental health from lockdowns is at best a rough estimate, several facts are known. Lockdowns decrease mental health, and a decrease in mental health shortens lives too.

The claim: Anxiety from reactions to COVID-19 will destroy at least seven times more years of life than can be saved by lockdowns.

The evidence: This article references many studies detailing the anxiety surrounding COVID-19 (1-4). These studies indicate that many people have increased stress due to COVID. Nature Public Health Emergency Collection reports that the mental health cost of widespread lockdowns may negate the lives saved by this policy (5). This article lists many articles which describe the effect of stay-at-home orders on mental health. Additionally, the effect of poor mental health on physical outcomes is well-defined. Poor mental health shortens lives. Other factors with COVID such as negative media coverage and dealing with job loss and death are also described as negatively affecting mental health. It is unclear how much of the negative mental health outcomes is directly related to lockdowns and what is contributed to the disease, job loss, future uncertainty, and continuous media coverage.

Several supporting facts used in this article are now outdated or could use clarification. Many assumptions are detailed in this article to estimate the number of years lost due to mental harm caused by lockdowns. One example is the authors used a survey of 1,266 patients to estimate the number of people in the United States who have suffered mental harm from lockdowns. These estimates are challenging to conclusively verify. The authors did choose the conservative estimate for each of their numbers. One example of an outdated number is the predicted number of deaths was 114,228 by August 4th. The actual number of deaths per Johns Hopkins was 157,500 (6).

Based on the facts, anxiety and mental disorders can be deadly. Lockdowns result in an increase in poor mental health. The exact number of years lost due to poor mental health directly resulting from lockdowns is less clear. Poor mental health may also result from constant media coverage, loss of loved ones and fear of the future.

The sources:

1) https://www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/new-poll-covid-19-impacting-mental-well-being-americans-feeling-anxious-especially-for-loved-ones-older-adults-are-less-anxious

2) https://www.kff.org/health-reform/report/kff-health-tracking-poll-early-april-2020/

3) https://www.bsgco.com/post/coronavirus-and-americans-mental-health-insights-from-bsg-s-pulse-of-america-poll

4) https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-health-tracking-poll-late-april-2020-economic-and-mental-health-impacts-of-coronavirus/

5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7431738/#

6) https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map

[[refactoring at scale]]

Agree or disagree with how they obtained info and what that means for digital rights; how much the Chinese government informed or not their people - this is what China did in terms of alerting their population of covid cases.

Takeaway: Mink are capable of contracting and transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to each other and to humans which had resulted in mutated SARS-CoV-2.

The claim: Mink are now considered a public health risk.

The evidence: SARS-CoV-2 infects and kills mink (1). The lung damage in mink from SARS-CoV-2 is similar to the damage in human lungs from SARS-CoV-2. The range of symptoms from asymptomatic to deadly is exhibited by the mink. Based on this pre-print article, SARS-CoV-2 is mutating in mink farms and had documented transmission from mink to humans (2).

Extensive sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes has been done (3). Mutations tend to occur in certain hot spots of the genome. The stated purpose of the sequencing research is to identify relatively stable parts of the genome to use as vaccine targets to help avoid mutant escape. The genomes of SARS-CoV-2 from mink infections had more nucleotide differences than SARS-CoV-2 from human COVID outbreaks (2). This may be due to a faster mutation rate or to the fact that so many mink were infected.

Sources:

1) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0300985820943535?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed&

2) https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.01.277152v1

3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7199730/

What are the main trends in medical mobile app development and how to to build a healthcare app to get the best results. We highlight the general insights of the business and technical models of mobile healthcare apps.

The Takeaway: The combination of closing borders, tightly regulating travel, effective quarantine of all exposed people using cell phone data for enforcement, and universal mask wearing contributed to effectively keeping COVID-19 from infecting most of Taiwan's population.

The claim: Closing borders early, tightly regulating travel, contact tracing, technology-enforced quarantine, universal mask wearing, and Taiwan's previous deadly experience with SARS resulted in control of SARS-CoV-2 in Taiwan.

The evidence: The earlier COVID-19 cases are stopped from entering a country, the fewer cases will be present to spread the disease to others. To illustrate, it is easier to stop a trickle of water than to try to dam up a flood and easier to extinguish a candle than a forest fire. Taiwan closed its borders on January 23rd, 2020 (1). The Philippines closed their borders on February 2nd, 2020 (2). Tightly regulating travel will help to stop cases before they enter the country. Effective quarantining the few cases and contacts of the cases which do enter a country is critical to preventing the spread of the disease within the country. Taiwan used mobile telephone data to enforce quarantine (1). Without quarantine, each infected person will spread COVID-19 to 2-6 additional people based on the R0 (3, 4). Universal masking will help slow the spread of disease (5). Previous experience with controlling a deadly disease will most likely increase compliance to methods to control the disease.

Per Our World in Data website, Taiwan had one of the least stringent government responses to COVID-19 (6). The biweekly number of COVID-19 cases in Taiwan was 23 on October 29, 2020 (7). Neighboring countries had biweekly COVID-19 cases of 372 (China), 28,644 (Philippines), 11,871 (Malaysia), 51 (Vietnam), and 8,142 (Japan). These neighboring countries had more stringent government responses to COVID-19 (6).

Sources:

1) https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202001230011

2)https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/coronavirus-affected-countries-philippines-measures-impact-tourism-economy/#:~:text=The%20government%20announced%20earlier%20on,barred%20from%20entering%20the%20country.

3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32234343/

4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32097725/

5) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1132-9#annotations:7jRWRheWEeuY8x_rXDuRjg

6) https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-stringency-index

7) https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/biweekly-confirmed-covid-19-cases

The impact of Covid-19 on media – rise of infodemics? (2020, September 16). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QapwrR9C3Z4&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=InternationalDayofDemocracyEU

COVID-19: The 9/11 Moment for Global Public Health? Dr. Richard Horton and Clive Cookson. (2020, September 1). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97iJIwBQ5qE&feature=youtu.be

Covid: Scots told to prepare for “digital Christmas.” (2020, October 22). BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-54643340

Jeremy Farrar on Twitter. (n.d.). Twitter. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://twitter.com/JeremyFarrar/status/1318983210282459136

Geddes, L. (2020, October 21). Women aged 50-60 at greatest risk of ‘long Covid’, experts suggest. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/21/women-aged-50-60-at-greatest-risk-of-long-covid-experts-suggest

What you need to know about Sweden’s new local coronavirus recommendations. (2020, October 19). https://www.thelocal.se/20201019/what-you-need-to-know-about-swedens-new-local-coronavirus-recommendations

‘Bus drivers didn’t have adequate PPE even though they requested it’ – Edinburgh University’s Dr Gwenetta Curry. (2020, October 19). Channel 4 News. https://www.channel4.com/news/bus-drivers-didnt-have-adequate-ppe-even-though-they-requested-it-edinburgh-universitys-dr-gwenetta-curry

Rent Strike Bristol on Twitter. (n.d.). Twitter. Retrieved October 27, 2020, from https://twitter.com/RentStrikeBris/status/1317073795291729921

Dennis, A., Wamil, M., Kapur, S., Alberts, J., Badley, A. D., Decker, G. A., Rizza, S. A., Banerjee, R., Banerjee, A., & Investigators, O. behalf of the C. study. (2020). Multi-organ impairment in low-risk individuals with long COVID. MedRxiv, 2020.10.14.20212555. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.14.20212555

Royal Statistical Society on Twitter. (n.d.). Twitter. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://twitter.com/RoyalStatSoc/status/1317133702183456769

Structural Racism as SDH: -Examples: 1) Home Health workers not eligible for paid leave causing disproportionate harm when injured 2) Nursing Home: SSA funded private long term care for the elderly and prohibited funding for institutions for AA individuals Laws 1) Often don't address root causes. For example, anti-discrimination laws legitimizes existing structures

Take away: The humanitarian fallout from prolonged lockdowns to control COVID-19 could be worse than the deaths due to COVID-19.

The claim: The humanitarian fallout from COVID-19 could be worse than the deaths caused directly by the disease.

The evidence: Food supply chains have been disrupted due to COVID-19 (1). The World Health Organization predicts that 130 million additional people could become chronically hungry due to COVID-19 (2). Per the International Labor Organization, 1.6 billion workers have the prospect of their employment destroyed, at least partially due to the prolonged lockdowns (3).

“For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security and no future. [...] As the pandemic and the jobs crisis evolve, the need to protect the most vulnerable becomes even more urgent."

Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General

A number of socio-economic consequences have resulted from COVID-19 lock-down measures to control the virus (4). 900 million learners are affected by lockdowns which results in high risk children lacking access to free meals provided by school systems, drop out rates, and social isolation/mental health (4). Affects have been seen in the agricultural, manufacturing, petroleum and oil, finance industry, travel and aviation industry, hospitality, and others (4).

Considering the drastic increase in job loss with resulting hunger from financial instability and other social-economic factors resulting from lock-downs, the fall out from prolonged lockdowns to control COVID-19 will most likely be worse than the number of deaths due to COVID-19 directly.

Disclaimer: This annotation is not intended to downplay the seriousness of COVID-19. Rather it is intended to put the seriousness of the disease in context of other problems that are resulting from measures to control COVID-19.

Sources:

1) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01181-3

2) https://www.who.int/news/item/13-07-2020-as-more-go-hungry-and-malnutrition-persists-achieving-zero-hunger-by-2030-in-doubt-un-report-warns#:~:text=Across%20the%20planet%2C%20the%20report,by%20the%20end%20of%202020.&text=further%20at%20times.)-,The%20State%20of%20Food%20Security%20and%20Nutrition%20in%20the%20World,towards%20ending%20hunger%20and%20malnutrition.

3) https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_743036/lang--en/index.htm

4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7162753/

Health, T. L. P. (2020). COVID-19 in Spain: A predictable storm? The Lancet Public Health, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30239-5

Hone, T., Mirelman, A. J., Rasella, D., Paes-Sousa, R., Barreto, M. L., Rocha, R., & Millett, C. (2019). Effect of economic recession and impact of health and social protection expenditures on adult mortality: A longitudinal analysis of 5565 Brazilian municipalities. The Lancet Global Health, 7(11), e1575–e1583. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30409-7

Smith, A. M., Willroth, E. C., Gatchpazian, A., shallcross, amanda, Feinberg, M., & Ford, B. Q. (2020). Coping with Health Threats: The costs and benefits of managing emotions. [Preprint]. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dn957

Maarten van Smeden on Twitter. (n.d.). Twitter. Retrieved October 18, 2020, from https://twitter.com/MaartenvSmeden/status/1316423658106216454

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Take away: Cloth face masks filter approximately 50% of bacteriophage five times smaller than one SARS-CoV-2 virus. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that masks, including cloth masks, are 50% effective.

The claim: Masks are assumed to be 50% effective.

The evidence: Face masks, including home made face masks, were shown to reduce aerosol exposure (1). Masks made from various materials were shown to filter 50-68% of Bacteriophage CS2 which is 20 nm (2). When NaCl aerosols were used instead of a bacteriophage, penetration by NaCl occurred 9-98% of the time depending on the size of the particles (3). Two well written reviews detail the efficacy of facemasks (4, 5). SARS-CoV-2 virus is ~100 nm in size (6).

Sources: 1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440799/

2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7108646/

3 https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/54/7/789/202744

4 https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202004.0203/v1

5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7497125/#ref23

6 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7224694/#:~:text=SARS%2DCoV%2D2%20is%20an,they%20do%20more%20than%20that.

Summary of the article:

• We spend nearly half of each day daydreaming, and usually think that it’s a bad thing, but it turns out that highly demanding tasks make us daydream more.
• It allows us to turn off our surroundings, and can be a way of imagining solutions to the problem at hand.
• To find this out, researchers did two studies of employees and managers in South America, including mainly surveys about daydreaming.
• Daydreaming turned out to happen more when the tasks required a lot of focus - it can boost creative problem-solving as long as we’re personally invested in our work.
• However, for people who don’t identify with their work, daydreaming was linked to worse performance.