A Look Behind the Scenes at COVID-19: National Strategies of Infection Control and Their Impact on Mortality

Abstract

(1) Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began spreading across the globe in December and, as of 9 July 2020, had inflicted more than 550,000 deaths. Public health measures implemented to control the outbreak caused socio-economic havoc in many countries. The pandemic highlighted the quality of health care systems, responses of policymakers in harmony with the population, and socio-economic resilience factors. We suggest that different national strategies had an impact on mortality and case count. (2) Methods: We collected fatality data for 17 countries until 2 June 2020 from public data and associated these with implemented containment measures. (3) Results: The outcomes present the effectiveness of control mechanisms in mitigating the virus for selected countries and the UAE as a special case. Pre-existing conditions defined the needed public health strategies and fatality numbers. Other pre-existing conditions, such as temperature, humidity, median age, and low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations played minor roles and may have had no direct impact on fatality rates. (4) Conclusions: Prevention, fast containment, adequate public health strategies, and importance of indoor environments were determining factors in mitigating the pandemic. Development of public health strategies adapted to pre-existing conditions for each country and community compliance with implemented policies ensure the successful control of pandemics.

Association Between Vitamin D and Novel SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Dysfunction – A Scoping Review of Current Evidence and Its Implication for COVID-19 Pandemic

“…After further exclusion for non-Covid related, not relevant and only protocols, 59 publications were reviewed ( Supplementary Table S1). Twenty five (8 observational, 4 ecological, 1 interventional non-RCT, 4 Systematic review/meta-analysis/review and 8 editorial) new studies specifically explored the role of vitamin D deficiency in the progression of ARDS in COVID-19 infection (Arnold, 2020;Aygun, 2020;Brenner et al, 2020;Chakhtoura et al, 2020;D'Avolio et al, 2020;Ebadi and Montano-Loza, 2020;Faul et al, 2020;Haj Bloukh et al, 2020;Hastie et al, 2020;Ilie et al, 2020;Laird et al, 2020;Martineau and Forouhi, 2020;Meltzer et al, 2020;Ohaegbulam et al, 2020;Panagiotou et al, 2020;Quesada-Gomez et al, 2020; Raisi-Estabragh et al, 2020; Silberstein, 2020; Singh et al, 2020;Slominski et al, 2020;Sun et al, 2020;Townsend et al, 2020;Tramontana et al, 2020;Whittemore, 2020) (Tables 2, 3). Figure 2 presents a PRISMA diagram of the review search B.…”

Facile Synthesis of Bio-Antimicrobials with “Smart” Triiodides

“…Nosocomial infections, steadily increasing treatment duration and costs slash quality of life throughout the world [1][2][3]. This trend quietly impacted COVID-19 related treatment outcomes and death rates behind the scenes [4,5]. Nosocomial infections of severely ill patients in health care settings exacerbated pain, suffering and death [5,6].…”

Antimicrobial Hexaaquacopper(II) Complexes with Novel Polyiodide Chains

“…Antimicrobial polymeric coatings can reduce the burden of infections through contaminated fomites in all indoor and outdoor settings [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Inclusion of known antimicrobial agents like iodine and copper into polymeric coating materials can mitigate antimicrobial resistance [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ].…”