Social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Vaccines and drugs for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 require robust evidence generated from clinical trials before they can be used. Decisions on how to apply non-pharmaceutical interventions such as quarantine, self-isolation, social distancing and travel restrictions should also be based on evidence. There are some experiential and mathematical modelling data for these interventions, but there is a lack of data on the social, ethical and behavioural aspects of these interventions in the literature. Therefore, our study aims to produce evidence to inform (non-pharmaceutical) interventions such as communications, quarantine, self-isolation, social distancing, travel restrictions and other public health measures for the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study will be conducted in the United Kingdom, Italy, Malaysia and Thailand. We propose to conduct 600-1000 quantitative surveys and 25-35 qualitative interviews per country. Data collection will follow the following four themes: (1) Quarantine and self-isolation (2) social distancing and travel restrictions (3) wellbeing and mental health (4) information, misinformation and rumours. In light of limitations of travel and holding in-person meetings, we will use online/remote methods for collecting data. Study participant will be adults who have provided informed consent from different demographic, socio-economic and risk groups. Discussion: At the time of writing, United Kingdom, Italy, Malaysia and Thailand have initiated strict public health measures and varying degrees of “lockdowns” to curb the pandemic. It is anticipated that these public health measures will continue in some countries (e.g. Italy, Malaysia) or be tightened further in other countries (e.g. Thailand, UK) to control the spread of the disease in the coming weeks and months. The data generated from our study could inform these strategies in real time.

Perspectives on public health interventions in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand

“…We conducted an online anonymous survey in Thailand of people's opinions and perspective on the public health intervention implementation in Thailand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Full details of the wider study protocol of which this is a part of have been reported previously 1 . Briefly, the…”

Perspectives on public health interventions in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand

“…We conducted an online anonymous survey in Thailand of people's opinions and perspective on the public health intervention implementation in Thailand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Full details of the wider study protocol of which this is a part of have been reported previously 1 . Briefly, the "Social, ethical and behavioural aspects of COVID-19 (SEBCOV)" study consisted of an online survey and qualitative interviews in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Malaysia) and Europe (United Kingdom, Italy and Slovenia).…”

The Effect of the COVID-19 on Corrosive Ingestion in Thailand

“…14,15 Most of the government strategies applied the "Lockdown situation" to manage the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, and Thailand was affected by creating a significant sudden change in economic conditions and human way of life. [24][25][26] We have shown in this small study that the overall incidence of corrosive ingestion more than doubled during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic but increased 3-fold for intentional ingestion. Males predominated and there was also a trend in increased gastric but not esophageal injury.…”