To investigate the perceived effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown measures on food availability, accessibility, dietary practices and strategies used by participants to cope with these measures.

We conducted a cross-sectional multi-country online survey between May and July 2020. We used a study-specific questionnaire mainly based on the adaptation of questions to assess food security and coping strategies from the World Food Programme’s ‘Emergency Food Security Assessment’ and ‘The Coping Strategy Index’.

The questionnaire was hosted online using Google Forms and shared using social media platforms.

A total of 1075 adult participants from eighty-two countries completed the questionnaire.

As a prelude to COVID-19 lockdowns, 62·7 % of the participants reported to have stockpiled food, mainly cereals (59·5 % of the respondents) and legumes (48·8 %). An increase in the prices of staples, such as cereals and legumes, was widely reported. Price increases have been identified as an obstacle to food acquisition by 32·7 % of participants. Participants reported having lesser variety (50·4 %), quality (30·2 %) and quantity (39·2 %) of foods, with disparities across regions. Vulnerable groups were reported to be facing some struggle to acquire adequate food, especially people with chronic diseases (20·2 %), the elderly (17·3 %) and children (14·5 %). To cope with the situation, participants mostly relied on less preferred foods (49 %), reduced portion sizes (30 %) and/or reduced the number of meals (25·7 %).

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted food accessibility and availability, altered dietary practices and worsened the food insecurity situation, particularly in the most fragile regions.

To evaluate changes in ultra-processed food (UPF) intake and its major correlates during the first Italian lockdown (9 March–3 May 2020).

Retrospective observational study.

Italy.

We analysed 2992 subjects (mean age 57·9 ± 15·3 years, 40·4 % men). Individual participant data were pooled from two retrospective cohorts: (1) The Moli-LOCK cohort consists of 1501 adults, a portion of the larger Moli-sani study (n 24 325; 2005–2010) who were administered a phone-based questionnaire to assess lifestyles and psychological factors during confinement and (2) the Analysis of Long Term Risk of Covid-19 Emergency is a web-based survey of 1491 individuals distributed throughout Italy who self-responded to the same questionnaire by using Google forms.

UPF was defined according to NOVA classification based on degree of food processing. An UPF score was created by assigning 1 point to increased consumption, −1 to decreased and 0 point for unchanged intakes of nineteen food items, with higher values indicating an increase in UPF during confinement.

Overall, 37·5 % of the population reported some increase in UPF (UPF score ≥1). Adults were more likely to decrease UPF (multivariable regression coefficient β = −1·94; 95 % CI −2·72, −1·17 for individuals aged >75 years as compared with 18–39 years) as did individuals from southern Italian regions as compared with Northern inhabitants (β = −1·32; 95 % CI −1·80, −0·84), while UPF lowering associated with increased exercise (β = −0·90; 95 % CI −1·46, −0·35) and weight loss (β = −1·05; 95 % CI −1·51, −0·59) during confinement.

During the first Italian lockdown, about 40 % of our population switched to unfavourable eating as reflected by increased UPF intake and this may have long-term effects for health.

There has been a reported increase in cases of domestic violence during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; however, systematic research data are still unavailable. This study was conducted to find out domestic violence prevalence and coping strategies among married adults during lockdown due to COVID-19 in India.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among married men and women in the month of April 2020. Data regarding socio-demographic profile, domestic violence, and coping strategies used during lockdown were collected thorough Google Forms. A total of 97.9% of the forms were completely filled by the respondents. A descriptive analysis was done.

Of 94 study participants, approximately 7.4% (n = 7) had faced domestic violence during lockdown. Of these 7 participants, approximately 85.7% (n = 6) reported increased frequency of domestic violence during lockdown. Approximately half of the victims chose to ignore it (57.1%; n = 4) or used yoga/meditation (42.9%; n = 3) to cope.

With approximately 7.4% study participants facing domestic violence during lockdown, it is necessary to study its detailed epidemiology in pandemics so that interventions like helpline numbers, screening of patients during tele-consultation, etc., which can be delivered even during lockdown with the help of health-care and frontline workers could be devised to address this problem.

The COVID-19 pandemic and nationally mandated restrictions to control the virus have been associated with increased mental health issues. However, the differential impact of the pandemic and lockdown on groups of individuals, and the personal characteristics associated with poorer outcomes are unknown.

Data from 21 938 adults in England who participated in a stratified cohort study were analysed. Trajectories of depression and anxiety symptoms were identified using growth mixture modelling. Multinomial and logistic regression models were constructed to identify sociodemographic and personality-related risk factors associated with trajectory class membership.

Four trajectories of depression and five for anxiety were identified. The most common group presented with low symptom severity throughout, other classes were identified that showed: severe levels of symptoms which increased; moderate symptoms throughout; worsening mental health during lockdown but improvements after lockdown ended; and for anxiety only, severe initial anxiety that decreased quickly during lockdown. Age, gender, ethnicity, income, previous diagnoses, living situation, personality factors and sociability were associated with different trajectories.

Nearly 30% of participants experienced trajectories with symptoms in the clinical range during lockdown, and did not follow the average curve or majority group, highlighting the importance of differential trajectories. Young, female, outgoing and sociable people and essential workers experienced severe anxiety around the announcement of lockdown which rapidly decreased. Younger individuals with lower incomes and previous mental health diagnoses experienced higher and increasing levels of symptoms. Recognising the likely symptom trajectories for such groups may allow for targeted care or interventions.

This study examined the uptake of ENT UK coronavirus disease 2019 adult tonsillitis and quinsy guidelines at our tertiary centre, and assessed perceived barriers to uptake.

A retrospective case series of tonsillitis and quinsy patients was analysed in two arms: before and after the introduction of new ENT UK management guidelines. A survey assessed perceptions and practice differences between ENT and emergency department doctors.

Each study arm examined 82 patients. Following the introduction of new ENT UK guidelines, ENT clinicians demonstrated significant changes in practice, unlike their emergency department counterparts. Survey results from emergency department doctors highlighted a lack of appreciation of guideline change and identified barriers to guideline uptake.

The introduction of new management guidelines for tonsillitis and quinsy patients during the pandemic resulted in disparate uptake within ENT and emergency department departments at the tertiary centre. Clearer dissemination to all affected clinicians is paramount for future rapidly introduced changes to practice, to ensure clinician safety.

To characterize and compare early coverage of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in newspapers, television, and social media, and discuss implications for public health communication strategies that are relevant to an initial pandemic response.

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), an unsupervised topic modeling technique, analysis of 3271 newspaper articles, 40 cable news shows transcripts, 96,000 Twitter posts, and 1000 Reddit posts during March 4-12, 2020, a period chronologically early in the timeframe of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coverage of COVID-19 clustered on topics such as epidemic, politics, and the economy, and these varied across media sources. Topics dominating news were not predominantly health-related, suggesting a limited presence of public health in news coverage in traditional and social media. Examples of misinformation were identified, particularly in social media.

Public health entities should use communication specialists to create engaging informational content to be shared on social media sites. Public health officials should be attuned to their target audience to anticipate and prevent spread of common myths likely to exist within a population. This may help control misinformation in early stages of pandemics.

Injury patterns are closely related to changes in behavior. Pandemics and measures undertaken against them may cause changes in behavior; therefore, changes in injury patterns during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak can be expected when compared to the parallel period in previous years.

The aim of this study was to compare injury-related hospitalization patterns during the overall national lockdown period with parallel periods of previous years.

A retrospective study was completed of all patients hospitalized from March 15 through April 30, for years 2016-2020. Data were obtained from 21 hospitals included in the national trauma registry during the study years. Clinical, demographic, and circumstantial parameters were compared amongst the years of the study.

The overall volume of injured patients significantly decreased during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the greatest decrease registered for road traffic collisions (RTCs). Patients’ sex and ethnic compositions did not change, but a smaller proportion of children were hospitalized during the outbreak. Many more injuries were sustained at home during the outbreak, with proportions of injuries in all other localities significantly decreased. Injuries sustained during the COVID-19 outbreak were more severe, specifically due to an increase in severe injuries in RTCs and falls. The proportion of intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalizations did not change, however more surgeries were performed; patients stayed less days in hospital.

The lockdown period of the COVID-19 outbreak led to a significant decrease in number of patients hospitalized due to trauma as compared to parallel periods of previous years. Nevertheless, trauma remains a major health care concern even during periods of high-impact disease outbreaks, in particular due to increased proportion of severe injuries and surgeries.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 is a formidable virus, responsible for coronavirus disease 2019 and endowed with marked neurotropism. The damage it causes to the nervous system is manifold. The main neurological manifestation is anosmia. Olfactory damage is often transient, but there are no data reflecting an observational period of several months.

This study evaluated the trend of anosmia in patients affected by coronavirus disease 2019 in the eight months following diagnosis.

Fifty-five subjects who presented with symptoms suggestive of coronavirus disease 2019 and who developed anosmia, between the end of February and the beginning of March 2020, were investigated. The patients were interviewed after eight months to determine functional recovery and assess the degree of recovery.

Ninety-one per cent of the population reported olfactory recovery and, of these, 53 per cent had total recovery after eight months. Females and younger age groups seem slightly advantaged in functional recovery. The elderly population appears to have excellent prospects for full functional recovery.

Anosmia represents a frequent neurological manifestation during coronavirus disease 2019. Fortunately, it is transient in most cases, and only a small percentage of patients affected by it report long-term functional deficits.

With no approved treatments for COVID-19 initially available, the Food and Drug Administration utilized multiple preapproval pathways to provide access to investigational agents and/or medical devices: Expanded Access, Emergency Use Authorizations, and Clinical Trials. Regulatory units within an Academic Medical Center (AMC), including those part of the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium, have provided support for clinicians in navigating these options prior to the pandemic. As such, they were positioned to be a resource for accessing therapies during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

A small survey and a follow-on poll of the national Investigational New Drug (IND)/Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) Workgroup were conducted in October and December 2020 to determine whether CTSA regulatory units assisted in facilitating access to COVID-19 therapies and the extent of pandemic-related challenges these units faced.

Fifteen survey and 21 poll responses were received, which provided insights into the demands placed on these regulatory support units due to the pandemic and the changes required to provide critical support during this and future crises. Key changes and lessons learned included the importance of regulatory knowledge to support the institutional response, the critical need for electronic submission capacity for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents, and the nimble reallocation of regulatory and legal resources to support patient access to investigational agents and/or medical devices during the pandemic.

AMC- and CTSA-based regulatory units played a meaningful role in the COVID-19 pandemic but further unit modifications are needed for enabling more robust regulatory support in the future.

By nature of their specialty, otolaryngologists are disproportionately exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 through aerosol-generating procedures and close proximity to the oropharynx during examination.

Our single-centre, retrospective study analysed the pertinence of guidelines produced by ENT UK to improve the investigation and management of suspected upper aerodigestive fish bone foreign bodies during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Our results demonstrated 43.3 per cent (n = 13) low-risk cases and 56.7 per cent (n = 17) moderate-risk cases. Nine fish bones (two low risk, seven moderate risk) were found; none of these were confirmed with X-ray and three (moderate risk) required nasoendoscopy for diagnosis. One patient required rigid pharyngoscopy.

This study confirms that soft tissue neck X-ray and flexible nasoendoscopy are unnecessary in low-risk cases; however, early nasoendoscopy in higher suspicion cases is appropriate. Recommendations are made about the long-term sustainability of these guidelines, and additional measures are encouraged that relate to repeat attendances and varying prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 in the hospital catchment area.