The aim of this study was to examine the incidence of food insecurity and affecting factors in households with children in Turkey during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This is a cross-sectional study. The participants were recruited by the snowball sampling method, and the data were collected by means of a link sent to their smartphones through their social media accounts. This study included 211 households with at least 1 child.

The study revealed that 21.8% households had food insecurity that was not at the hunger threshold. The monthly income of 80.6% of the households was below the poverty line and monthly income decreased in more than half of the households during the pandemic. Food insecurity increased 2.5 times when the households comprised workers or self-employed individuals (odds ratio [OR] = 2.529; P = 0.002), increased 3 times when the monthly income of the households decreased (OR = 3.131; P = 0.000), and increased 2 times when total monthly income of the household fell below poverty line during the pandemic (OR = 2.001; P = 0.049).

It is determined that nearly half the households have food insecurity and that the pandemic poses a risk in terms of food security. We recommend that public health studies should be planned to ensure accessibility to healthy foods.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed formidable challenges, including overwhelming biomedical waste management. Guidelines have been rapidly changing along with the mounting pressure of waste generation.

These challenges were managed by smart re-engineering of structure and processes for the desired outcomes. Dedicated staff, in personal protective equipment with appropriate training, were deployed to collect waste using dedicated trolleys. A dedicated route plan was drawn with a dedicated elevator meant for COVID-19. A new temporary holding area was created. Dedicated trucks with requisite labels were deployed to transport COVID-19 waste to a common biomedical waste treatment facility. Communication challenges were addressed through timely circulars, which were further reinforced and reiterated during various on-going training programs.

Before the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of biomedical waste generated was 1.93 kg/bed/day; currently, the quantity of COVID-19 biomedical waste generated is 7.76 kg/COVID bed/day. Daily COVID-19 waste generation data are maintained and uploaded in an android application monitored by Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India. To date, none of the workers handling COVID-19 waste has acquired health-care associated COVID-19 infection, which reflects on the soundness of the new system and the infection control practices in the institute.

A responsive leadership harmonizing with a robust communication and training system has augmented timely re-engineering of structure and processes for better outcomes in the war on waste.

Health-care workers (HCWs) are vulnerable to the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, and the safety of HCWs is important in situations where a prolonged COVID-19 is expected.

HCWs were recently put in great danger around the globe; as of December 21, there were 306 confirmed cases in HCWs in South Korea, representing 0.60% of the total 50,591 confirmed cases nationally.

After experiencing Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), South Korea has put a range of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures with long-term perspectives in place, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), HCW’s infection status tracing, visitor control, and a variety of supports from both national and local public health authorities.

This article introduces the infection status of HCWs and IPC measures currently taken in South Korea, emphasizing the collaborative and long-term IPC efforts for ensuring the safety of HCWs.

To assess whether there is a change in the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation after the strict lockdown measures due to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain; and to assess which are the factors associated with the incidence of a depressive episode or suicidal ideation during the lockdown.

Data from a longitudinal adult population-based cohort from the provinces of Madrid and Barcelona were analysed (n = 1103). Structured face-to-face home-based interviews (pre-pandemic) and telephone interviews were performed. Both depression and suicidal ideation were assessed through an adaptation of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 3.0). A variety of validated instruments and sociodemographic variables including age, sex, educational level, occupational status, home quietness, screen time, resilience, loneliness, social support, physical activity, disability, economic situation and COVID-19-related information were also considered. Population prevalence estimates and multivariable logistic regressions were computed.

Overall, prevalence rates of depression and suicidal ideation did not change significantly from before to after the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the rates of depression among individuals aged 50+ years showed a significant decrease compared to before the pandemic (from 8.48 to 6.41%; p = 0.01). Younger individuals (odds ratio (OR) = 0.97 per year older; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.95–0.99) and those feeling loneliness (OR = 1.96; 95% CI = 1.42–2.70) during the lockdown were at an increased risk of developing depression during the confinement. Resilience showed a protective effect against the risk of depression (OR = 0.46; 95% CI = 0.32–0.66) and suicidal ideation (OR = 0.33; 95% CI = 0.16–0.68), whereas individuals perceiving social support were at a lower risk of developing suicidal thoughts (OR = 0.35; 95% CI = 0.18–0.69).

Continuous reinforcement of mental health preventive and intervening measures during and in the aftermath of the crisis is of global importance, particularly among vulnerable groups who are experiencing the most distress. Future research should strive to evaluate the long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis on mental health.