Nations throughout the world are imposing mandatory quarantine on those entering the country. Although such measures may be effective in reducing the importation of COVID-19, the mental health implications remain unclear.

This study sought to assess mental well-being and factors associated with changes in mental health in individuals subject to mandatory quarantine following travel.

Travellers arriving at a large, urban international airport completed online questionnaires on arrival and days 7 and 14 of mandated quarantine. Questionnaire items, such as travel history, mental health, attitudes toward COVID-19, and protection behaviours, were drawn from the World Health Organization Survey Tool for COVID-19.

There was a clinically significant decline in mental health over the course of quarantine among the 10 965 eligible participants. Poor mental health was reported by 5.1% of participants on arrival and 26% on day 7 of quarantine. Factors associated with a greater decline in mental health were younger age, female gender, negative views toward quarantine measures and engaging in fewer COVID-19 prevention behaviours. For instance, travellers who stated that they rarely wore masks had nearly three times higher odds of developing poor mental health.

Although the widespread use of quarantine may be effective in limiting the spread of COVID-19, the mental health implications are profound and have largely been ignored in policy decisions. Psychiatry has a role to play in contributing to the public policy debate to ensure that all aspects of health and well-being are reflected in decisions to isolate people from others.

During COVID-19, the internet was a prime source for getting relevant updates on guidelines and desirable information. The objective of the present study was to determine the nutritional immunity information seeking behaviour during COVID-19 in India.

Google Trends (GTs) data on relevant COVID-19 and nutritional topics were systematically selected and retrieved. Data on newly reported COVID-19 cases were also examined on a daily basis. The cross-correlation method was used to determine the correlation coefficient between the selected terms and daily new COVID-19 cases, and the joint point regression models were utilised to measure monthly percent change in relative search volumes.

Online.

People using google search during period 01-01-2020 to 31-08-2020 in India.

The date of peak searches can be attributed to the COVID-19 guidelines announcement dates. All the nutritional terms showed a significant increase in average monthly percentage change. The higher than the average daily rise in COVID-19 cases leads to a higher than average increase in RSVs of nutritional terms with the greatest association after 14 to 27 days. The highest mean relative search volume for nutritional terms was from Southern India (49.34±7.43), and the lowest was from Western India (31.10±6.30).

There was a significant rise in the google searches of nutritional immunity topics during COVID-19 in India. The local/regional terms can be considered for better outreach of public health guidelines or recommendations. Further automation of Google Trends using programming languages can help in real-time monitoring and planning various health/nutritional events.

The study assessed the community preparedness to manage the COVID-19 and access to healthcare services during the lockdown of 2020 in a rural health block of northern India.

A cross-sectional study was conducted during June-July, 2020 in 25 villages and five wards of a rural administrative block of Haryana. A pre-tested, semi-structured investigator administered checklist was used to assess the community preparedness and practices for COVID-19 prevention/control and healthcare access through direct observations and interviewing community health workers and beneficiaries.

Active surveillance for influenza-like illness was carried out in 86.7% of the study units, though the frequency was once a month. There was poor adherence (adherence: 0-3%) to COVID-19 infection prevention & control (IPC) measures such as physical distancing and use of face masks. Rural beneficiaries reported difficulty accessing essential healthcare services than their urban counterparts.

A qualitative study to understand the facilitators and barriers for the non-adherence to IPCs measures by the study population and formulating behaviour change communication strategies for improving the IPCs is needed. Repeat, cross-sectional surveys at regular intervals may be planned to gauge the change and effect of the interventions on the community preparedness and practices.

Healthcare workers (HCWs), are often seen as the most reliable source of vaccine-related information for their patients; nevertheless, various studies show that HCWs experience vaccine hesitation. In this study, the aim was to determine the reasons for vaccine hesitation among HCWs working in a large public hospital and its affiliated units in Istanbul.

A descriptive method for collecting qualitative data was designed for this study. The data of the HCWs was analyzed in line with the vaccine hesitancy factors put forward by the WHO.

The most important vaccine hesitancy theme that emerged was the fear and lack of confidence in the vaccines, which was expressed at a higher rate than any other theme in all HCWs. The most cited reason for fear/lack of confidence in the vaccine was the fear of its side effects. It was observed that the HCWs who reported hesitation about vaccination due to pregnancy and breastfeeding consisted of women. The second most common theme for vaccine hesitation was reported as an inconvenience in accessing the vaccines. Although HCWs have priority, they stated that their reason for vaccine hesitancy was due to heavy personal or workloads. The final theme was about complacency, or thinking they do not need the vaccine.

Vaccine hesitation is a challenge that can be overcome with detailed monitoring and policy making. Although the vaccine seems to be more significant, we do not want to see vaccine hesitancy grow more than the vaccine itself.

Effective handwashing practices help prevent the spread of COVID-19. This study examined the knowledge, frequency, and characteristics of handwashing practices among Vietnamese university students.

An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted on all students enrolling at Phenikaa University in Vietnam. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect information on the participants’ knowledge regarding the effectiveness of handwashing as a COVID-19 preventive measure, the moments for hand hygiene, the most appropriate practices in different situations, and frequency.

Among 728 study participants, 460 (63.2%) were from health-related faculties. Almost (97.9%, 713/728) all participants knew that handwashing could protect against the spread of infection, but less than half performed handwashing often in a normal day (47.4%, 345/728), after sneezing or coughing (48.9%, 356/728), and 7.4% (54/728) only washed hands when hands are visibly dirty. Health students used alcohol-based handrub in all situations including those requiring handwashing with water and soap (P<0.05).

The levels of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of handwashing among study participants are high, but actual practices of handwashing are suboptimal. It is crucial to improve community education to help reinforce correct hand hygiene behaviors including when to wash hands and which method should be used.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic caused mental health services to be downscaled to abide by the public health restrictions issued.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the pandemic and resultant restrictions had an impact on Malta's admissions to hospital for mental health issues by assessing the number and nature of psychiatric admissions to our only national mental health hospital.

Data collection was carried out retrospectively for the 13-week period between 7 March 2020 and 4 June 2020, compared with the equivalent in 2019. Demographic data was obtained and descriptive statistical analysis through the use of the χ²-test, z-test and logistic regression model were used to compare both data-sets, using a P-value of 0.05.

An overall reduction in admissions to hospital was noted in 2020 when compared with 2019, recorded to be lowest in March 2020 with a steady acceleration of admissions up until May 2020 (χ2(3) = 22.573, P < 0.001). This coincided with a decelerated rate of positive COVID-19 cases locally. In 2020, there were significantly higher female admissions (χ2(1) = 10.197, P < 0.001), increased presentations of self-harm/suicidal ideation (P < 0.001) and higher involuntary admissions using the Mental Health Act (χ2(1) = 4.904, P = 0.027). The logistic regression model identified total length of stay in hospital, primary mental health diagnosis, gender and month of admission as variables significantly associated with an admission.

Our first population-wide study confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent public health restrictions had an impact on the population's hospital admissions for mental health issues.

To determine the case-fatality rate (CFR) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its associated determinants in order to understand the true magnitude of the problem during ongoing conflict in Yemen.

The CFR among confirmed COVID-19 cases in Yemen was calculated. The data was retrieved from national COVID-19 surveillance between April 10, when the first COVID-19 case reported, and May 31, 2020.

A total of 419 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported. There were 14.1% and 5.7% of cases who required intensive care and mechanical ventilators, respectively. Out of total cases, 95 deaths were reported, giving CFR of 22.6% which is much higher compared to other countries. CFR was significantly higher among elderly compared to young adults and varied between governorates. Mortality was associated with preexisting hypertension (OR: 2.30; 95%CI: 1.58, 3.54) and diabetes (OR: 1.68; 95%CI: 1.08, 2.61).

Elderly and those with comorbidities, in particular hypertension and diabetes, have higher risk for poor outcomes and therefore should receive more attention in the clinical setting. Preventive measures should also be prioritized to protect those groups in order to reduce the severe cases and deaths-associated COVID-19 in armed-conflict.