Saturday, May 14, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Medical Finance
  • Home
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Mediknowledge
  • Insights From Industry
  • Thought Leaders
  • Coronavirus
  • Whitepapers
  • Home
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Mediknowledge
  • Insights From Industry
  • Thought Leaders
  • Coronavirus
  • Whitepapers
No Result
View All Result
Medical Finance
No Result
View All Result
Home Coronavirus

Relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and government-implemented stringency measures in Africa

by Medical Finance
in Coronavirus
Study: Preserving lives or livelihoods? Examining the COVID-19 pandemic policy responses in Africa. Image Credit: Ink Drop/Shutterstock
9
SHARES
99
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

As Africa prepares for a new wave of infections, several nations debate the best strategy for surviving the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. When faced with a probable new upsurge, the containment techniques used at the start of the pandemic may prove impossible to implement. As a result, suitable limits compatible with geography, economic activity, and living conditions will be required. Many African countries have been experiencing economic disruptions since 2020 due to policy and administrative efforts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.


Study: Preserving lives or livelihoods? Examining the COVID-19 pandemic policy responses in Africa. Image Credit: Ink Drop/ShutterstockStudy: Preserving lives or livelihoods? Examining the COVID-19 pandemic policy responses in Africa. Image Credit: Ink Drop/Shutterstock


The health-protecting measures have had significant socioeconomic implications. At the height of the lockdown, Africa’s real GDP fell by 5%, and a huge percentage of households lost their jobs and income, which had serious welfare repercussions due to a lack of social safety systems. The lockdowns were also associated with a high everyday violence and criminality rate.


Studying the trade-offs created by stringency measures in Africa is an important policy for two reasons. First, the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for containing the pandemic were designed for settings and conditions in rich nations and were not always applicable to developing countries. Second, unlike their counterparts in wealthy countries, African countries and households find it extremely difficult to recover from major shocks.


In a preprint available on the In Review* preprint server, a group of researchers address the following research questions: how can they evaluate the effects of policy measures on socioeconomic conditions to their effectiveness in stopping the spread of the virus? What additional measures do African countries need to manage a pandemic effectively?


The study


The findings demonstrate that reducing the mobility of people around the mean (–18%) can result in a 1% reduction in daily infection rates and a 0.6% reduction in mortality rates. Similarly, daily infection rates could be reduced by 1.5%  using the Stringency Index around the mean (51%). However, compared to the findings of affluent countries, the effectiveness of lockdowns is generally low. In Switzerland, for example, a 1% drop in people’s mobility resulted in a 0.88 to 1.11% reduction in daily infections. In contrast, in data from this study, the figure was 0.05%, which is far too little to have a significant impact on infection rates within an acceptable timeframe.


To illustrate the contrast, everyday infection rates in Africa would be cut in half within 70 days if people’s movement was reduced by half on average. However, if lockdowns were as effective as Switzerland, it would only take four days. Due to the many aspects at play, such as demographic profile, living conditions, and so on, there has been no clear agreement among experts on the efficiency of lockdowns in containing the COVID-19 epidemic.


As a result, lockdowns and draconian measures should be supplemented by additional means. Testing and tracking capabilities, for example, had a key impact in lowering the fatality rate. During the study period, the average level of testing and tracing obtained resulted in a 1.4% reduction in daily fatality rates. After a certain threshold, a community’s understanding of the pandemic may help to limit infections. For example, if community understanding reaches 40% of the population, daily infection rates could be reduced by 1.6%.


The findings of the fixed effects regression model illustrate the effect of changes in people’s monthly movement on the illumination of nightlights. After accounting for unobserved time-invariant components and time-fixed effects, a 1% drop in people mobility might result in a 0.01% reduction in nightlight illumination or comparable real GDP growth. A one-standard-deviation drop in mobility (about 20%) could result in a 2% drop in real GDP growth. The influence on employment and home welfare, as a result, is self-evident. According to previous studies, over 256 million people in Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda lived in households that lost income due to the pandemic, based on a high-frequency phone survey.


Implications


There is a lot of talk right now about using this pandemic to alter African economies, reform institutions, and even economic management. Pandemics, such as the current one, typically present possibilities to progress toward a more sustainable and equitable economic environment while posing a significant obstacle. It’s worth noting that vaccinations and their widespread distribution could provide an essential buffer. Africa may need to build production and distribution capacity to protect its population from the next pandemic.


*Important notice


This preprint is under consideration at a Nature Portfolio Journal. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Medical Finance

Medical Finance

Related Posts

Study: FOLIC ACID AND METHOTREXATE USE AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH COVID-19 DIAGNOSIS AND MORTALITY: AN ANALYSIS FROM THE UK BIOBANK. Image Credit: sfam_photo/Shutterstock

Study suggests folic acid supplementation linked to increased risk for COVID-19 diagnosis

by Medical Finance
May 14, 2022
0

In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers evaluated if folic acid or methotrexate use impacts the risk...

Study: COVID-19-Associated Hospitalizations Among Children Less Than 12 Years of Age in the United States. Image Credit: SweetLeMontea/Shutterstock

Characteristics of initial hospitalization and readmissions among pediatric patients with COVID-19 in the US

by Medical Finance
May 14, 2022
0

Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related hospitalization rates in children and adolescents are lower than in adults, COVID-19 can cause...

Study: SARS-CoV-2 Omicron triggers cross-reactive neutralization and Fc effector functions in previously vaccinated, but not unvaccinated individuals. Image Credit: anushkaniroshan/Shutterstock

Superior immune response in vaccinated after infection with Omicron compared to unvaccinated

by Medical Finance
May 14, 2022
0

In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers evaluated the cross-reactivity of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus...

Study: SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1 N-terminal and linker regions as a platform for host translational shutoff. Image Credit: ATS / Shutterstock

Mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 Nsp1 interaction with ribosomal complexes

by Medical Finance
May 14, 2022
0

In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, the team of researchers explored the protein-protein interaction between the severe...

Study: Effectiveness of Maternal Vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine During Pregnancy Against COVID-19–Associated Hospitalization in Infants Aged <6 Months — 17 States, July 2021–January 2022. Image Credit: milkumistock / Shutterstock.com

Study shows mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy can prevent hospitalization among infants

by Medical Finance
May 14, 2022
0

A report published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) shows how primary two-dose vaccination series against coronavirus...

Study: Emergence of epidemic diseases: zoonoses and other origins. Image Credit: Rost9/Shutterstock

The emergence of infectious diseases from the “germ’s eye view”

by Medical Finance
May 14, 2022
0

In a recent study published in the latest issue of Faculty Reviews, researchers evaluated interactions of various microbiological, environmental, and social...

Next Post
Study: Social Distancing Causally Impacts The Spread of SARS-CoV-2: A U.S. Nationwide Event Study. Image Credit: oatawa/Shutterstock

Causal impact of spontaneous relaxation of social distancing practices on spread of SARS-CoV-2 in US

Study: T cell response following anti COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccination is maintained against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron B.1.1.529 variant of concern. Image Credit: natatravel/Shutterstock

Study finds stable T-Cell response against Omicron after mRNA booster vaccination

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Login
Notify of
guest
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Support

  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms And Conditions

Categories

  • Coronavirus
  • Insights From Industry
  • Interviews
  • Mediknowledge
  • News
  • Thought Leaders
  • Whitepapers

More News

  • Protein 620x480
    Study sheds light on the conformational dynamics of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins
  • Air pollution closeup of one big smoking pipe Anastasiia Tymoshenko A1 8bf7a1a99f724b6ebc4bed3c25c9868c 620x480
    Newly identified mechanism explains how fine air pollution particles may cause lung cancer
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms And Conditions

© 2022 Medical Finance - Latest Financial and Business News

No Result
View All Result
  • Interviews
  • Mediknowledge
  • News
  • Insights From Industry
  • Coronavirus
  • Thought Leaders
  • Whitepapers
wpDiscuz
0
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
| Reply