scholarly journals Practice of Faith under COVID-19: Exceptional Cases

Author(s):  
David Emmanuel Singh

Included here are some cases that highlight exceptional behaviour under the novel coronavirus (CV) pandemic that cuts across religious boundaries. The Christian cases were drawn from the United States and South Korea; Islamic cases were drawn both from India and Iran; and the Hindu and Sikh cases were highlighted from India. Of these, notably, Iran is a declared theocracy, whereas the United States and India are arguably contexts of rising Christian and Hindu theocracies. We are familiar with the evidence of the positive role of religions in society. This paper brings together exceptional cases where irrationality, control and selfishness trump wisdom and altruism. The evidence highlighted here shows that people are capable of suspending reason and behaving with a motive inspired by faith (often tarnished by the state’s intervention), even when it is clear there might be serious personal and social costs involved.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254127
Author(s):  
Sara Kazemian ◽  
Sam Fuller ◽  
Carlos Algara

Pundits and academics across disciplines note that the human toll brought forth by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States (U.S.) is fundamentally unequal for communities of color. Standing literature on public health posits that one of the chief predictors of racial disparity in health outcomes is a lack of institutional trust among minority communities. Furthermore, in our own county-level analysis from the U.S., we find that counties with higher percentages of Black and Hispanic residents have had vastly higher cumulative deaths from COVID-19. In light of this standing literature and our own analysis, it is critical to better understand how to mitigate or prevent these unequal outcomes for any future pandemic or public health emergency. Therefore, we assess the claim that raising institutional trust, primarily scientific trust, is key to mitigating these racial inequities. Leveraging a new, pre-pandemic measure of scientific trust, we find that trust in science, unlike trust in politicians or the media, significantly raises support for COVID-19 social distancing policies across racial lines. Our findings suggest that increasing scientific trust is essential to garnering support for public health policies that lessen the severity of the current, and potentially a future, pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Rosenfeld

At the state level within the United States, did political ideology predict the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)? Throughout March 2020, the United States became the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, recording the most cases of any country worldwide. The current research found that, at the state level within the United States, more conservative political ideology predicted delayed implementation of stay-at-home orders and more rapid spread of COVID-19. Effects were significant across two distinct operationalizations of political ideology and held over and above relevant covariates, suggesting a potentially unique role of political ideology in the United States’ COVID-19 outbreak. Considering political ideological factors may offer valuable insights into epidemiological processes surrounding COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Pickup ◽  
Dominik Stecula ◽  
Clifton van der Linden

The novel coronavirus reached the United States and Canada almost at the same time. The first reported American case was January 20, 2020, and in Canada it was January 15, 2020 (Canada, 2020; Holshue et al., 2020). Yet, the response to this crisis has been different in the two countries. In the US, President Donald Trump, prominent Republicans, and conservative media initially dismissed the dangers of COVID-19 (Stecula, 2020). The pandemic became politicized from the early days, and even though Trump and Republicans have walked back many of their initial claims, there continue to be media reports of partisan differences in public opinion shaped by that early response. At the same time, the response in Canada has been mostly characterized by across-the-board partisan consensus among political elites (Merkley et al., 2020).


2020 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-757
Author(s):  
Jane F. Thrailkill

Abstract People over sixty-five have been singled out as a uniquely vulnerable risk group for the novel coronavirus. Yet the discourse of risk obscures (and exacerbates) socially created dangers of congregate care in the United States: poorly paid workers holding down multiple jobs and the endemic “plagues” of loneliness, boredom, and hopelessness. Humorous memes about who counts as old point out structural inequalities, while millions of able-bodied “shut-ins” (due to lockdowns and job losses) may experience forced empathy: fuel for new imaginings about how to care for—and value—elders moving forward.


2019 ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Nadiia Bielikova ◽  
Ivan Yaroshenko

Nano- and biotechnologies are the key elements of the complex of NBIC-technologies, developed within the concept of continuous growth of innovations in the context of the transition to the sixth technological mode. The purpose of the article is to study the prospects for the development of nano- and biotechnologies in various sectors of the economy, as well as explore opportunities for accelerating the commercialization of research results in these areas. The article’s relevance is confirmed by the strengthening of the role of nano- and biotechnologies in the sphere of innovation development of countries worldwide. The results of the study have shown that the nanotechnology market has a divergent structure, and the basic characteristic of nanoproducts is their interdisciplinary nature. The world leaders in the production and commercialization of nanotechnologies are the United States, China, Japan, Germany and South Korea. Biotechnologies are developing rapidly as well. Worldwide, the largest number of biotechnologies is created in areas such as health care (biomedicine and biopharmaceuticals), industry and agriculture. The leading countries in the field of development and commercialization of biotechnologies are the United States, France, Germany and South Korea.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anjali Priyadarshini ◽  
Archana Gupta ◽  
Manoj Kumar Yadav ◽  
Arpana Vibhuti ◽  
Ramendra Pati Pandey ◽  
...  

Tuberculosis and Covid-19 infection measure two quite different diseases- TB is caused by a sort of bacterium whereas Covid-19 is caused by a virus. However, the BCG immunizing agent would possibly facilitate individuals build immune responses to things aside from TB, inflicting "off-target effects," In different words, in run format, individuals started learning positive in obtaining the immunizing agent that had nothing to try and do with TB, several studies showed however the BCG immunizing agent affects individuals with kind one although the precise mechanism for these off-target effects of the BCG immunizing agent is not clear, it's believed that the immunizing agent will cause a nonspecific boost of the reaction. There is presently no immunizing agent or treatments approved by the United States of America Food and Drug Administration for the novel coronavirus. BCG is usually innocuous with the most facet impact the event of inflammation at the positioning of injection. Supported by these observations BCG so emerges as a possible candidate for the development of innate and adjustive reactions which can be non-specifically taking care of mycobacterium and different infectious agents against that vaccine remains not on the market.


Author(s):  
Sameer Imtiaz ◽  
Frishta Nafeh ◽  
Cayley Russell ◽  
Farihah Ali ◽  
Tara Elton-Marshall ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There are preliminary indications that the trajectory of drug overdose-related deaths in North America has been exacerbated due to the novel coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). As such, the impact of COVID-19 on drug overdose-related deaths was examined through a systematic review of the literature and percentage change analyses of surveillance data. Methods Systematic searches in electronic databases were conducted, a topical issue brief and bibliography were reviewed, reference lists of included studies were searched and expert consultations were held to identify studies (Registration # CRD42021230223). Observational studies from the United States and Canada were eligible for inclusion if drug overdose-related deaths were assessed in quantitative or qualitative analyses onwards from at least March 2020. In addition, percentage changes comparing drug overdose-related deaths in the second annual quarter (Q2 2020 [April to June]) with the first annual quarter (Q1 2020 [January to March]) were generated using national and subnational data from public health surveillance systems and reports from jurisdictions in the United States and Canada. Results Nine studies were included in the systematic review, eight from the United States and one from Canada. The maximum outcome assessment period in the included studies extended until September 2020. Drug overdose-related deaths after the onset of COVID-19 were higher compared with the months leading up to the pandemic in 2020 and the comparative months in 2019. In additional percentage change analyses, drug overdose-related deaths increased by 2 to 60% in jurisdictions in the United States and by 58% in Canada when comparing Q2 2020 with Q1 2020. Conclusions Drug overdose-related deaths increased after the onset of COVID-19. The current situation necessitates a multi-pronged approach, encompassing expanded access to substance use disorder treatment, undisrupted access to harm reduction services, emphasis on risk reduction strategies, provision of a safe drug supply and decriminalization of drug use.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja Patel ◽  
Hans House

Abstract The Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was introduced into the United States via travel from Asia and Europe, although the extent of the spread of the disease was limited in the early days of the pandemic. Consequently, international travel may have played a role in the transmission of the disease into Iowa. This study seeks to determine how preferences for international travel changed as novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) spread throughout the world and if any of these returning travelers developed COVID-19 as a result of their trips. This is a retrospective chart review of patients presenting to a travel clinic in Bettendorf, Iowa for pre-travel advice and vaccinations. From October 2019 to March 2020, four hundred twelve (n=412) patients presented to the clinic. Intended travel to the Western Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) decreased dramatically during the study period. All 412 patients were followed in the electronic medical record for the period after their planned travel and only three (3) presented for COVID-19 testing. Two (2) tested positive, and both of these infections were linked to workplace exposures and not due to travel. News of the growing pandemic and travel warnings likely altered patients’ travel plans and decreased travel to the most affected regions of the world in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our study, travel was not a significant source of COVID-19 exposure for patients seen at this clinic.


Author(s):  
Daniel M. Weinberger ◽  
Ted Cohen ◽  
Forrest W. Crawford ◽  
Farzad Mostashari ◽  
Don Olson ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundEfforts to track the severity and public health impact of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the US have been hampered by testing issues, reporting lags, and inconsistency between states.Evaluating unexplained increases in deaths attributed to broad outcomes, such as pneumonia and influenza (P&I) or all causes, can provide a more complete and consistent picture of the burden caused by COVID-19.MethodsWe evaluated increases in the occurrence of deaths due to P&I above a seasonal baseline (adjusted for influenza activity) or due to any cause across the United States in February and March 2020. These estimates are compared with reported deaths due to COVID-19 and with testing data.ResultsThere were notable increases in the rate of death due to P&I in February and March 2020. In a number of states, these deaths pre-dated increases in COVID-19 testing rates and were not counted in official records as related to COVID-19. There was substantial variability between states in the discrepancy between reported rates of death due to COVID-19 and the estimated burden of excess deaths due to P&I. The increase in all-cause deaths in New York and New Jersey is 1.5-3 times higher than the official tally of COVID-19 confirmed deaths or the estimated excess death due to P&I.ConclusionsExcess P&I deaths provide a conservative estimate of COVID-19 burden and indicate that COVID-19-related deaths are missed in locations with inadequate testing or intense pandemic activity.RESEARCH IN CONTEXTEvidence before this studyDeaths due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, have been increasing sharply in the United States since mid-March. However, efforts to track the severity and public health impact of COIVD-19 in the US have been hampered by testing issues, reporting lags, and inconsistency between states. As a result, the reported number of deaths likely represents an underestimate of the true burden.Added Value of this studyWe evaluate increases in deaths due to pneumonia across the United States and relate these increases to the number of reported deaths due to COVID-19 in different states and evaluate the trajectories of these increases in relation to the volume of testing and to indicators of COVID-19 morbidity. This provides a more complete picture of mortality due to COVID-19 in the US and demonstrates how delays in testing led to many coronavirus deaths not being counted in certain states.Implications of all the available evidenceThe number of deaths reported to be due to COVID-19 represents just a fraction of the deaths linked to the pandemic. Monitoring trends in deaths due to pneumonia and all-causes provides a more complete picture of the tool of the disease.


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