South Asian countries have been struggling to control the COVID-19 pandemic despite imposing months of lockdown and other public health measures. This review aims to describe the epidemiological features and shortcomings in public health preparedness to tackle COVID-19 as well as derive lessons from these events in the context of Bangladesh. We have shown that an increase in human mobility was evident throughout the lockdown period. Over 20,000 frontline health workers were affected, and more than 2100 unofficial deaths possibly linked with COVID-19 diagnosis were reported. Males were disproportionately affected in terms of infection (71%) and death (77%) than females. Over 50% of infected cases were reported among young adults (20-40-year age group). After seven months into the pandemic, a downward trend in laboratory test positive percentage was seen, although the number of new deaths per day remained largely unchanged. We believe our findings, observations and recommendations will remain as a valuable resource to facilitate better public health practice and policy for managing current and future infectious disease like COVID-19 in resource-poor developing countries.
BackgroundSouth Asian countries including Bangladesh have been struggling to control the COVID-19 pandemic despite imposing months of lockdown and other public health measures. In-depth epidemiological information from these countries is lacking. From the perspective of Bangladesh, this study aims at understanding the epidemiological features and gaps in public health preparedness and risk communication. MethodsThe study used publicly available data of seven months (8 March 2020–10 September 2020) from the respective health departments of Bangladesh and Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre. Human mobility data were obtained from Google COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports. Spatial distribution maps were created using ArcGIS Desktop. Descriptive statistics was used to report the incidence, case fatality rates (CFR), and trend analysis. Results Despite nationwide lockdown, an increase in human mobility linked to specific public events was observed. During this period, a total of 47,153 cases and 650 deaths were reported. As lockdown ended, the incidence rate was increased by around 50% within a week. In seven months, about 350,000 cases were identified with a CFR of 1.4%. Males were disproportionately affected in terms of infection (71%) and death (77%) than females. The CFR for males was higher than females (1.4% versus 1.11%). Over 50% of infected cases were reported among young adults (20-40-year age group). Trends of the cumulative incidence were slower in South Asia with lower mortality compared to the EU and USA. As of 10 September 2020, over 20,000 frontline health workers were affected, and more than 2100 unofficial deaths were reported. Reduced testing capacity was observed as compared to other countries. Although a downward trend in laboratory test positive percentage was seen, the number of new deaths per day remained largely unchanged. ConclusionWe identified critical gaps in public health preparedness and risk communication in battling COVID-19 pandemic. We believe our findings, observations and recommendations will function as a valuable resource to facilitate better public health decisions for managing current and future infectious disease like COVID-19 in the settings of developing countries.
A new phenomenon of correlated plasmons was first observed in the insulating phase of the Sr1−x Nb1−y O3+δ family (Asamara et al 2017 Nat. Commun. 8 15271). The correlated plasmons are tunable, have multiple plasmonic frequencies, and exhibit low loss—making them desirable in numerous plasmonic applications. However, their fundamental mechanism is yet to be explored. While conventional plasmons can be understood solely by considering long-range interactions, unconventional correlated plasmons arise in correlated electron systems and require consideration of the short-range interactions. Here, we report how the interplay of short-range and long-range interactions determines the correlated plasmon phenomena through a coupled harmonic oscillator model of both 1D and quasi-1D systems. In each system, the impact of various physical parameters like the number of oscillators, energy scale, free electron scattering parameter, quasi-particle concentration, charges, effective masses, and Coulomb interaction strengths are explored to gain an understanding of their impact on the complex dielectric function and loss function. We study both cases where the parameters are the same for all quasi-particles and where effective mass, Coulomb interaction strength, and charge are varied for individual quasi-particles. In an extended model of the quasi-1D system, we study both cases where the rung symmetry of all parameters is conserved and where it is broken. When rung symmetry is conserved, the overall trends in optical and plasmonic peaks are the same as the 1D model, though the peaks tend to shift to higher energies and amplitudes. When rung symmetry is broken, the quasi-1D behavior deviates significantly from the 1D model, including an increase in the maximum possible number of optical and plasmonic peaks. Overall, our results demonstrate the significance of the interplay of short-range and long-range interactions in determining the correlated plasmons and identifying how various parameters can be used to tune the resulting plasmons.
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