The COVID-19 pandemic caught the world by surprise, causing millions of confirmed cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths. Hence, the Malaysian government announced a Movement Control Order at the start of the containment phase to flatten the epidemiological curve. Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), a public university in Borneo, was accelerated into alert phase because of high risk of case importation from more than 400 China incoming undergraduates. Measures to mitigate the potential COVID-19 outbreaks in its population were taken by using conventional public health measures with special attention to task-shifting and widespread community mental health interventions. A Preparedness and Response Centre was established to overseer the mitigating measures happening inside the university. Measures taken included empowerment of frontline staff, strengthening of restrictions, strengthening university health center, vigorous contact tracing, widespread health education, maintaining cultural sensitivity, and establishment of early standard operating procedures and university continuity plans. Hence, UMS was able to ensure no importation of cases into its campus during both acute and containment phases at the nationwide level.
Higher education institutions face major challenges in managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The risk of exposure from the community poses a threat to campus staff and students. This study describes epidemiological characteristics of suspected COVID-19 cases among a public university’s students and staff. This is a retrospective review on data collected from the institute’s COVID-19 Preparedness and Respond Centre, located at the main campus in Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah from mid-January to April 2020. Incidence rate was calculated, and epidemiological information retrieved from interviews and relevant documents. The majority of suspected COVID-19 cases were staff (57.1%) with incidence rates higher among males (IR=40.2/1,000 population) and those working in the frontline (IR=39.6/1,000 population). Suspected COVID-19 cases were mostly related to occupation (37.3%) and social contacts (27.3%). Student cases were largely related to household (38.1%) and during travel (33.3%). One positive COVID-19 case was reported of out of the 161 suspected cases (0.6%) in the institution. An operational team must be set up to conduct situational analysis and integrate management with other departments. Suspected COVID-19 cases must be quarantined and monitored on a daily basis. A high index of suspicion and effective containment of suspected cases will prevent spread of the virus among students and staff.
An increasing amount of waste concurrently further extends the risk of exposure to hazardous material among waste collectors. In light of the COVID-19 crisis, municipal waste collectors are one of the most at-risk groups of SARS-Cov-2 exposure. Risk assessment included hazard identification, evaluation of existing control level at the workplace, estimation of likelihood and severity of hazard, risk determination, and control measure recommendations. Five waste collection activities were identified and reviewed. High-risk exposure includes collection of garbage, mechanical manipulation of compactor lorries and unloading of garbage at the disposal site. There is poor practice of personal hygiene and unestablished continuous monitoring of personal protective equipment supplies. The preventive measures in the waste collection industry are influenced by several factors. Until the preventive measures are adopted into practice and adapted according to each company’s requirements, biological agents continue to be risk factor to the health workers.
Objective Increasing amount of waste concurrently increases the risk of exposure to hazardous materials among waste collectors. Vigorous exertion in the field intensifies the abundance of contaminated inspirable droplets. If left undetected and untreated, it may provoke significant pernicious health effects and redundant burdens to employees and employers. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and their associated factors among domestic waste collectors. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah between January and April 2020. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire which encompasses details about sociodemographic, health status, environment, and employment characteristics. Results A total of 290 waste collectors with a mean age of 40 (±9) years old were participated in the study. Most of them were from Kadazan-Dusun-Murut ethnic origin with educational background till secondary school. The average monthly income of the workers was USD 298.45 (±171.9) per month, and they had been in service for 11 (±9.04) years. Respiratory symptoms were seen in 21% of the workers. The identified significant risk factors were determined as underlying chronic diseases (OR=2.34; 95% CI=1.054, 5.219) and contact with pets (OR=1.87; 95% CI=1.004, 3.288). Conclusion Respiratory symptoms are prevalent amidst domestic waste collectors and related to their health and field activities.
Background: Surveillance is the backbone for effective public health practice. Traditionally, surveillance system relies on the collection of information regarding health-related events through healthcare facilities, disease notification system from the physician, syndromic notification networks, selected sentinel healthcare facilities, or by event-based data. However, there are several limitations in using conventional surveillance. Methods: With the advancement of technology and computer science, overcoming those limitations and complementing the traditional method has been recommended. Three leading emerging technologies are applied in public health surveillance: the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. Results: Application of informatics in public health surveillance could raise several issues including accessibility and affordability of innovations; public health informatics’ experts, law, and regulation to protect patients’ information; social and ethical considerations, norms, and standards of implementing new technologies; data ownership; privacy and sharing of information; biosecurity; biosafety; and cybersecurity. Conclusion: This article aimed to review several applications of informatics system in public health surveillance practice and its several issues related to the use of technology. Several applications of informatics could be useful for incoming challenges in public health. However, application of informatics can pose significant issues and must be taken into consideration in public health practice.
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