Still about two-in-ten ‘pretty certain’ they won’t get vaccine – even when there’s more information

Intent to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine Rises to 60% as Confidence in Research and Development Process Increases

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30193-2

COVID-19 is one of the biggest global public health challenges of the century with almost 42 million cases and more than a million deaths to date. Until a COVID-19 vaccine or effective pharmaceutical intervention is developed, alternative tools for the rapid identification, containment, and mitigation of the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are of paramount importance for managing community transmission. Within this context, school closure has been one of the strategies implemented to reduce spread at local and national levels. Experience gained from influenza epidemics showed that school closures reduce social contacts between students and therefore interrupt chains of transmission between students and households.1Jackson C Mangtani P Hawker J Olowokure B Vynnycky E The effects of school closures on influenza outbreaks and pandemics: systematic review of simulation studies.PLoS One. 2014; 9e97297Crossref PubMed Scopus (42) Google Scholar How school-age children transmit coronaviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome, and SARS-CoV-2 within school settings and at a local community scale is less clear.

Innovation in wastewater near-source tracking for rapid identification of COVID-19 in schools

10.31222/osf.io/cm5v3

Why do bad methods persist in some academic disciplines, even when they have been clearly rejected in others? What factors allow good methodological advances to spread across disciplines? In this paper, we investigate some key features determining the success and failure of methodological spread between the sciences. We introduce a model that considers factors like methodological competence and reviewer bias towards one's own methods. We show how self-preferential biases can protect poor methodology within scientific communities, and lack of reviewer competence can contribute to failures to adopt better methods. We further argue, however, that input from outside disciplines, especially in the form of peer review and other credit assignment mechanisms, can help break down barriers to methodological improvement.

Interdisciplinarity Can Aid the Spread of Better Methods Between Scientific Communities

10.31222/osf.io/sxajv

What is the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 U.S. presidential election? Guided by a pre-analysis plan, we estimate the effect of COVID-19 cases and deaths on the change in county-level voting for Donald Trump between 2016 and 2020. To account for potential confounders, we include a large number of COVID-19-related controls as well as demographic and socioeconomic variables. Moreover, we instrument the numbers of cases and deaths with the share of workers employed in meat-processing factories to sharpen our identification strategy. We find that COVID-19 cases negatively affected Trump's vote share. The estimated effect appears strongest in urban counties, in swing states, and in states that Trump won in 2016. A simple counterfactual analysis suggests that Trump would likely have won re-election if COVID-19 cases had been 5 percent lower. Our paper contributes to the literature of retrospective voting and demonstrates that voters hold leaders accountable for their (mis-)handling of negative shocks.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and US Presidential Elections

10.31222/osf.io/7gct9

Open Science (OS) increases the quality, efficiency, and impact of science. This has been widely recognised by scholars, funders, and policy makers. However, despite the increasing availability of infrastructure supporting OS and the rise in policies and incentives to change behavior, OS practices are not yet the norm. While pioneering researchers are developing and embracing OS practices, the majority sticks to the status quo. To transition from pioneering to common practice, we need to engage a critical proportion of the academic community. In this transition, Open Science Communities (OSCs) play a key role. OSCs are bottom-up learning groups of scholars that discuss OS practices, within and across disciplines. They make OS knowledge and know-how more visible and accessible, and facilitate communication among scholars and policy makers. By the same token, community members shape the transition to OS such that it is most beneficial for researchers, science, and society. Over the past two years, eleven OSCs were founded at several Dutch university cities, with approximately 700 members in total (at the time of writing). In other countries, similar OSCs are starting up. In this paper, we discuss the pivotal role OSCs play in the large-scale transition to OS and provide practical information on how to start a local OSC. We emphasize that, despite the grassroot character of OSCs, support from universities is critical for OSCs to be viable, effective, and sustainable.

Towards wide-scale adoption of open science practices: The role of open science communities

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30286-3

An earlier start to the second COVID-19 epidemic wave in Spain compared with other European countries has raised overt criticism to their public health administrations’ response.1COVID-19 in Spain: a predictable storm?.Lancet Public Health. 2020; 5: e568Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar We want to contribute to this debate constructively, sharing our perspective as public health professionals involved in the response, even if many aspects are outside our direct remit.Spain greatly increased its response capacities after the first wave of this virus. An improved test-trace-isolate strategy was implemented in May and, by late June, more than 80% of patients suspected to have COVID-19 were PCR-tested within 24–48 h, and 90% of patients had their contacts traced (Monge S, unpublished). PCR capacities were similar to that of other countries2Han E Tan MMJ Turk E et al.Lessons learnt from easing COVID-19 restrictions: an analysis of countries and regions in Asia Pacific and Europe.Lancet. 2020; 396: 1525-1534Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar and have been further strengthened (with a current national weekly testing rate of 2·563 per 100 000 inhabitants),3Ministerio de SanidadSituación actual.https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov/situacionActual.htmDate accessed: November 6, 2020Google Scholar and the public health workforce has increased by three times.3Ministerio de SanidadSituación actual.https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov/situacionActual.htmDate accessed: November 6, 2020Google Scholar On the basis of a national seroprevalence study,4Pollán M Pérez-Gómez B Pastor-Barriuso R et al.Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain (ENE-COVID): a nationwide, population-based seroepidemiological study.Lancet. 2020; 396: 535-544Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (214) Google Scholar we estimate the current detection capacity to be at 60–80% of infected individuals. All strategies and protocols were integrated into an updated early response plan, adapted at the regional level, including provisions for increasing epidemiological surveillance, test-trace-isolate procedures, strategic reserves, and health-care capacity, among others, which was adopted in July. However, weaknesses persist in the system, with chronic underinvestment in primary health care, public health, digitalisation, research and innovation, bureaucratic procedures, and with little availability of trained professionals.

COVID-19 in Spain: view from the eye of the storm

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30285-1

Currently, countries across the world are applying policies designed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, such as lockdowns, international travel restrictions, subsectoral closures, and adjustments in public transportation. Although these restrictions can be effective in controlling the epidemiological dynamics, they also need to be assessed in terms of their acceptability by populations. The preferences of populations should matter, particularly after months of efforts, and the new requirements of lockdowns in several European countries despite these efforts.

Population preferences for inclusive COVID-19 policy responses

https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30269-3

As many countries seek to slow the spread of COVID-19 without reimposing national restrictions, it has become important to track the disease at a local level to identify areas in need of targeted intervention.

Detecting COVID-19 infection hotspots in England using large-scale self-reported data from a mobile application: a prospective, observational study

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32478-8

The global COVID-19 death toll stands at more than 1·3 million. Among the lives lost have been those of health-care workers, who have had crucial roles throughout the response and continue to serve at the front lines. At the outset of the pandemic, doctors warned of the potential implications of the virus. As the virus spread, many doctors provided treatment for a disease they little understood, while others contributed to accelerated research on potential treatments and vaccines. And as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened worldwide, health professionals worked tirelessly to provide care for patients—some even emerged from retirement to provide assistance.

A tribute to some of the doctors who died from COVID-19

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30954-3

As someone who has been immersed in the COVID-19 pandemic since January of 2020, looking back on all that has happened since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is an extreme challenge. Trying to keep the full context of all the events, the new discoveries, the policies, and the rhetoric is almost a specialty in its own right. That's why a book like Unprepared: America in the Time of Coronavirus by Jon Sternfeld has such value. There will be many books written on this pandemic, but I suspect none that provide such a unique service as Unprepared does. This book is not a traditional narrative but more akin to a pandemic scrapbook. Unprepared is entirely comprised of COVID-related quotations from public figures, news outlets, and organisations. These are chronologically ordered beginning with the ominous news of Dec 31, 2019, which heralded what was to come, extending through June 5, 2020. The book is divided into five sections each aptly titled (e.g., “The Arrival”, “The Emergency”, “The Reckoning”).

The words that shaped COVID-19

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30922-1

In their response to our Personal View,1Brown RCH Kelly D Wilkinson D Savulescu J The scientific and ethical feasibility of immunity passports.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; (published online Oct 16.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30766-0Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (3) Google Scholar Françoise Baylis and Natalie Kofler argue that our position is informed by a misguided emphasis on liberal individualism. By contrast, they argue that their insistence that immunity passports must be fought “tooth and nail”2Baylis F Kofler N Why Canadians should fight tooth and nail against proof-of-immunity cards.https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-pandemic-coronavirus-immunity-passport-1.5551528Date: May 7, 2020Date accessed: November 17, 2020Google Scholar is based on a more justifiable, communitarian approach to public health.Our concern for individual liberties is not, we think, extreme. We agree that individuals might be required to make sacrifices in order to promote the social good and, indeed, that the current situation demands many such sacrifices. Although it is unclear what, precisely, Baylis and Kofler's communitarian public health ethic commits one to, it does not (presumably) require a jettisoning of individual interests altogether. Individuals are, after all, components of communities.

A public health ethic should inform policies on COVID-19 immunity passports – Authors' reply

As the UK struggles to contain the coronavirus crisis, Richard Horton says the government should have implemented strict lockdowns as soon as infections rose.

The Lancet editor: UK ‘steadfastly refused to follow the science’

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30866-5

We read with interest the article by Estella Ektorp, which describes the death threats received by Marcus Lacerda following a trial on chloroquine for COVID-19 in Brazil.1Ektorp E Death threats after a trial on chloroquine for COVID-19.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; 20: 661Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (7) Google Scholar We give Lacerda our full support and herein report our experience in France and Switzerland following publication of a meta-analysis2Fiolet T Guihur A Rebeaud ME Mulot M Peiffer-Smadja N Mahamat-Saleh Y Effect of hydroxychloroquine with or without azithromycin on the mortality of COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clin Microbiol Infect. 2020; (published online Aug 26.)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2020.08.022Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar on hydroxychloroquine, with or without azithromycin, for COVID-19.The meta-analysis included 11 932 participants treated with hydroxychloroquine, 8081 with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, and 12 930 patients in a control group. Hydroxychloroquine was not significantly associated with mortality: pooled relative risk (RR) was 0·83 (95% CI 0·65–1·06) across all 17 studies and 1·09 (0·97–1·24) across three randomised controlled trials. Hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin was associated with increased mortality (RR 1·27, 95% CI 1·04–1·54; seven studies).

Hydroxychloroquine and COVID-19: a tale of populism and obscurantism

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32465-X

As the UK enters a winter wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, our understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to evolve. However, what is strikingly clear from early data is the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on elderly, socioeconomically deprived, and ethnic minority groups, both in the UK and globally.1Aldridge RW Lewer D Katikireddi SV et al.Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in England are at increased risk of death from COVID-19: indirect standardisation of NHS mortality data.Wellcome Open Res. 2020; 5: 88Crossref PubMed Google Scholar,  2Chen J Krieger N Revealing the unequal burden of COVID-19 by income, race/ethnicity, and household crowding: US county versus zip code analyses.J Public Health Manag Pract. 2020; (published online Sept 9.)https://doi.org/10.1097/PHH.0000000000001263Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar Rapid analyses of large-scale population-based data show increased risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and poor outcomes in these groups.3Niedzwiedz CL O'Donnell CA Jani BD et al.Ethnic and socioeconomic differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection: prospective cohort study using UK Biobank.BMC Med. 2020; 18: 160Crossref PubMed Scopus (37) Google Scholar,  4Mathur R Rentsch CT Morton C et al.Ethnic differences in COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation, and mortality: an OpenSAFELY analysis of 17 million adults in England.MedRxiv. 2020; (published online Sept 23.) (preprint)https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.22.20198754Google ScholarThe intersecting effects of occupation, community interactions, household environments, and structural racism are key drivers of excess exposure to SARS-CoV-2 among ethnic minorities.5Ethnicity sub-group of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)Drivers of the higher COVID-19 incidence, morbidity and mortality among minority ethnic groups.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925135/S0778_Drivers_of_the_higher_COVID-19_incidence__morbidity_and_mortality_among_minority_ethnic_groups.pdfDate: 2020Date accessed: November 12, 2020Google Scholar Ethnic minority groups in the UK typically have higher occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-26Office for National StatisticsCoronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths by occupation, England and Wales.https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19relateddeathsbyoccupationenglandandwales/deathsregisteredbetween9marchand25may2020Date: June 25, 2020Date accessed: November 12, 2020Google Scholar and reduced opportunity to work from home. Transmission of infectious diseases is known to be more intense in densely populated and deprived areas, and within closely interconnected social networks. Highly socially and physically connected households with extended kinship and social support ties are generally more common in ethnic minority communities.7Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on BehavioursSPI-B: well-being and household connection: the behavioural considerations of “bubbles”. Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, May 14, 2020https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spi-b-well-being-and-household-connection-the-behavioural-considerations-of-bubbles-14-may-2020Date accessed: November 12, 2020Google Scholar Furthermore, many of these households are multigenerational, with older age adults, working age adults, and children living together.8UK GovernmentFamilies and households.https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/families-and-households/latestDate: April 3, 2019Date accessed: November 4, 2020Google Scholar Multigenerational living can intensify transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and efforts to isolate vulnerable or older individuals can be difficult, especially when combined with overcrowded living conditions

Urgent actions and policies needed to address COVID-19 among UK ethnic minorities

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30910-5

Cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) reinfection have been reported in Hong Kong, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the USA.1To KK-W Hung IF-N Ip JD et al.COVID-19 re-infection by a phylogenetically distinct SARS-coronavirus-2 strain confirmed by whole genome sequencing.Clin Infect Dis. 2020; (published online Aug 25.)https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1275Crossref Google Scholar,  2Tillett RL Sevinsky JR Hartley PD et al.Genomic evidence for reinfection with SARS-CoV-2: a case study.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; (published online Oct 12.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30764-7Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar,  3Iwasaki A What reinfections mean for COVID-19.Lancet Infect Dis. 2020; (published online Oct 12.)https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30783-0Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (12) Google Scholar,  4Mulder M van der Vegt DSJM Oude Munnink BB et al.Reinfection of SARS-CoV-2 in an immunocompromised patient: a case report.Clin Infect Dis. 2020; (published online Oct 9.)https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1538Crossref Google Scholar Here we report the first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in Ecuador and South America.

A case of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in Ecuador

IN EARLY November, covid-19 cases in Europe were surging, accounting for almost half the world’s new cases and deaths. Now many in the region are emerging from a second round of lockdowns, including England on 2 December and soon France on 15 December. So how well did they work, and which countries got them right?

Did Europe's lockdowns work, and which countries got it right?

10.1126/science.abf5396

Racism, climate denial, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are major crises standing in the way of a prosperous future for the United States, and resolution of all three could be enabled by science that is persistently ignored. In Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, a character named Mike is asked how he went bankrupt. “Two ways,” he answers. “Gradually, then suddenly.” The resistance of U.S. policy to science has followed a similar path: It gradually built up over 40 years, beginning with the election of Ronald Reagan, but suddenly reached a tipping point in the chaos of 2020. Will the path to resolution also be gradual and then sudden, and if so, at what cost?

Gradually, then suddenly

The pandemic has created a tragic ‘natural experiment’ - a once-in-a-century jolt that could produce unexpected insights

How modelling Covid has changed the way we think about epidemics

The concept is not only impractical, it creates a ‘them and us’ mentality. Everyone’s health matters, or no one’s health matters

Shield some and let others carry on? This Covid theory is dangerous, and foolish

Ministers did not suppress the virus, and now a new variant is surging in the south-east of England

How a string of failures by the British government helped Covid-19 to mutate

“FORTUNATE” isn’t a word that often comes up in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, but in one respect it is true. In the nine months that the virus behind covid-19 has been circulating widely, it has hardly mutated at all. “We are fortunate that the virus is not mutating fast,” says Sudhir Kumar at Temple University in Pennsylvania. A rapidly mutating virus could evolve into different, possibly more virulent, strains. “So it’s good to have a low diversity” among the viruses currently circulating, he says.

Is the coronavirus evolving and will it become more or less deadly?

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural America

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2019378118

Despite considerable social scientific attention to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on urbanized areas, very little research has examined its impact on rural populations. Yet rural communities—which make up tens of millions of people from diverse backgrounds in the United States—are among the nation’s most vulnerable populations and may be less resilient to the effects of such a large-scale exogenous shock. We address this critical knowledge gap with data from a new survey designed to assess the impacts of the pandemic on health-related and economic dimensions of rural well-being in the North American West. Notably, we find that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural populations have been severe, with significant negative impacts on unemployment, overall life satisfaction, mental health, and economic outlook. Further, we find that these impacts have been generally consistent across age, ethnicity, education, and sex. We discuss how these findings constitute the beginning of a much larger interdisciplinary COVID-19 research effort that integrates rural areas and pushes beyond the predominant focus on cities and nation-states.

Among groups at higher risk of dying from COVID-19, such as people with diabetes, people with DS stand out: If infected, they are five times more likely to be hospitalized and 10 times more likely to die than the general population, according to a large U.K. study published in October. Other recent studies back up the high risk.

COVID-19 is 10 times deadlier for people with Down syndrome, raising calls for early vaccination

10.1126/science.abg1795

People worldwide have been waking up an hour later than normal during the coronavirus pandemic. Data collected from 100,000 users of a sleep-tracking app, Sleep as Android, from countries around the globe provides a snapshot of how sleeping patterns have shifted. Users toggle the app on and off as they go to bed and wake up.

People are spending an extra hour in bed since pandemic started

Scientists have identified a collection of drugs with the potential to benefit tens of thousands of patients who are admitted to intensive care with life-threatening coronavirus infections. The breakthrough emerged from a major study of critically ill patients that revealed a suite of genes involved in antiviral defences and lung inflammation that leave people at greater risk of developing severe Covid disease.

This article is more than 2 months old Coronavirus: UK scientists identify drugs that may help severe cases

During the pandemic lockdown earlier this year, S. Nicole Lane (right) of Chicago found that hiking with her boyfriend brought them closer. The couple is shown on a hike in North Carolina.

The secrets of couples thriving right now in the pandemic

A public-interest group told a London court that the U.K. wasted millions of pounds on Covid-19 personal-protective equipment as it rushed into contracts at the start of the pandemic.Nearly 400 million pounds ($538 million) worth of protective gear, including masks and gowns, that were bought earlier in the year remain in storage and have never reached frontline doctors and nurses, the Good Law Project said in a court filing Thursday. {"contentId":"QKRH4EDWRGG801","position":"box","dimensions":{"mobile":[[300,250],[3,3],[1,1],"fluid"]},"type":"Mobile Body Box Ad","positionIncrement":1,"targeting":{"position":"box1","positionIncrement":1,"url":"/news/articles/2020-12-03/u-k-s-obscure-ppe-process-during-pandemic-challenged-in-suit"},"containerId":"box-7C8ZWoB"}

U.K.’s ‘Obscure’ PPE Process During Pandemic Challenged

The virus is likely to have spread more widely than the south-east of England, so the lockdown is likely to expand

This article is more than 2 months oldWe need even tougher curbs to fight this new coronavirus strain

o, what’s a person to do when the onslaught of factual information is mixed in with non-factual information?? It can be tough. Especially when it’s about a topic we might not be too familiar with (eg, the latest is whether viral mutations will affect vaccine effectiveness. Short answer is…we don’t yet know. Stay tuned.) So, how do you identify misinformation? Science and experts say:

Science Says Sunday – How to Spot Misinformation

The UK’s race to vaccinate 13.9 million people in high-priority groups against covid-19 by 15 February is a Herculean undertaking. “Unprecedented” may have become an overused word in the pandemic, but the size and speed of the vaccine roll-out warrants it, though it may still be months before many people receive a covid-19 vaccine.

The UK may struggle to hit its covid-19 vaccine target – here's why

I am no lockdown junkie. I’d like to get that straight before I explain why the most extreme variant of lockdown scepticism is rebarbative and destructive. I will never forgive the government for dragging out the first lockdown for 14 weeks, pointlessly exhausting the public’s patience and sowing the seeds of the non-compliance we see today. I think the second lockdown was an unnecessary overreaction to a surge in cases in the north-west that was being dealt with by local restrictions. I think the 10pm curfew was counter-productive and the tier system was clumsy and unfair. I always thought “circuit breakers” caused unnecessary hardship and had no chance of nipping the problem in the bud, as their advocates claimed. It was criminal to not reopen the schools in June and I’m not entirely convinced they should be closed now. I scorn the likes of Piers Morgan and “Independent” SAGE who would have had us in lockdown all year if they’d had a chance. No amount of comparing Sweden to its immediate neighbours will persuade me that the Swedes didn’t have a better 2020 than most Europeans. Contrary to folk wisdom, you can put a price on life and it can’t be denied that most of the people who die of COVID have had a good innings.

Rise of the Coronavirus Cranks

As the total number of U.S. coronavirus cases surpassed 24 million on Monday, Los Angeles County, one of the hardest-hit areas, may face even more dire weeks ahead. Deaths in the county have continued to climb as the national death toll nears 400,000.

As the U.S. surpasses 24 million cases, Los Angeles confronts a more contagious variant.

n 8 December, during a regular Tuesday meeting about the spread of the pandemic coronavirus in the United Kingdom, scientists and public health experts saw a diagram that made them sit up straight. Kent, in southeastern England, was experiencing a surge in cases, and a phylogenetic tree showing viral sequences from the county looked very strange, says Nick Loman, a microbial genomicist at the University of Birmingham. Not only were half the cases caused by one specific variant of SARS-CoV-2, but that variant was sitting on a branch of the tree that literally stuck out from the rest of the data. “I’ve not seen a part of the tree that looks like this before,” Loman says. Less than 2 weeks later, that variant is causing mayhem in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe. Yesterday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced stricter lockdown measures, saying the strain, which goes by the name B.1.1.7, appears to be better at spreading between people. The news led many Londoners to leave the city today, before the new rules take effect, causing overcrowded railway stations. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy announced they were temporarily halting passenger flights from the United Kingdom. The Eurostar train between Brussels and London will stop running tonight at midnight, for at least 24 hours.

Mutant coronavirus in the United Kingdom sets off alarms, but its importance remains unclear

Many countries have closed their borders to people leaving the UK due to the rapid spread within the country of a new variant of the coronavirus that might be more transmissible. Meanwhile, South Africa is also reporting the spread of another new variant. Here’s what you need to know.

What you need to know about the new variant of coronavirus in the UK

It doesn’t take very many ultra-wealthy Americans changing their address to wreak havoc on cities’ finances. 

What Happens When the 1% Go Remote

N agency will help fund food parcels for those affected by coronavirus crisis in Southwark, south London

Unicef to feed hungry children in UK for first time in 70-year history

Rampant partisanship in the United States may be the largest obstacle to the reduced social mobility most experts see as critical to limiting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing a total of just over 1.1 million responses collected daily between 4 April and 10 September reveals not only that partisanship is more important than public health concerns for explaining individuals’ willingness to stay at home and reduce social mobility but also that the effect of partisanship has grown over time—especially among Republicans. All else equal, the relative importance of partisanship for the increasing (un)willingness of Republicans to stay at home highlights the challenge that politics poses for public health.

Partisan pandemic: How partisanship and public health concerns affect individuals’ social mobility during COVID-19

10.31234/osf.io/7szaw

Prior research has indicated that disease threat and disgust are associated with harsher moral condemnation. We investigated the role of a specific, highly salient health concern, namely the spread of the coronavirus, and associated COVID-19 disease, on moral condemnation. We hypothesized that individuals who report greater subjective worry about COVID-19 would be more sensitive to moral transgressions. Across 3 studies (N = 913), conducted March-May 2020 as the pandemic started to unfold in the United States, we found that individuals who were worried about contracting the infectious disease made harsher moral judgments than those who were relatively less worried. This effect was not restricted to transgressions involving purity, but extended to transgressions involving harm, fairness, authority, and loyalty, and remained when controlling for political orientation. Furthermore, for Studies 1 and 2 the effect also was robust when taking into account the contamination subscale of the Disgust Scale—Revised. These findings add to the growing literature that concrete threats to health can play a role in abstract moral considerations, supporting the notion that judgments of wrongdoing are not based on rational thought alone.

Disease and Disapproval: COVID-19 Concern is Related to Greater Moral Condemnation

10.31234/osf.io/kcpqm

Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus – 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first identified in Wuhan China in December 2019. Because of Covid-19 worldwide spreading in 2020, urgent hygiene and lockdown measures have been implemented with fundamental consequences on the lives of people in all sectors of society. Besides visible socio-economic and documented health effects, the impact of Covid-19 on people’s mental health including stress-related effects on disease spreading remains yet to be addressed. Here, we argue about the relevance of incorporating stress factors into models of covid-19 spreading and the level of detail in which such models should take stress into consideration.

Stress as a meaningful variable in models of covid-19 spreading

10.31234/osf.io/da95b

Preexisting conditions affect disease susceptibility. Here, I show that socio-cultural values are population-level risk factors for disease. Using data from the World Values Survey, I show that, between 2 weeks and 6 months after the first COVID-19-related death in a country, COVID-19-related mortality is increased in countries endorsing values related to political participation, but decreased in countries with more trust in institutions and materialistic orientations. After controlling for income, age, urbanicity, smoking, overweight, private health expenditure and lockdown delay, these socio-cultural values were consistent across country-sets, reduced prediction errors by up to 52% and explained up to 68% of inter-country variability. They were relatively specific to COVID-19-related mortality. I could not identify values predicting general health outcomes, and values predicting increased COVID-19-related mortality predicted decreased mortality due to other causes like environmental-related mortality, explaining up to 90% of inter-country variability. Socio-cultural values might be specific predictors of health outcomes.

The values of survival: Socio-cultural values predict COVID-19-related mortality

10.31234/osf.io/vr5jd

Background. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poorer adult mental health, and benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) are associated with better adult mental health. Objective. To test whether ACEs and BCEs predict adult mental health beyond current stress and social support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and Setting. We analyzed data from undergraduate and graduate students (N = 502) at an urban private university in the western United States. Methods. An online survey was conducted to assess ACEs and BCEs, current stress and social support, depressive and anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, and loneliness in May 2020. Results. Higher levels of ACEs were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, β = 0.45, p = .002. Higher levels of BCEs were associated with lower depressive symptoms, β = -0.39, p = .03, lower perceived stress, β = -0.26, p = .002, and less loneliness, β = -0.12, p = .04. These associations held while controlling for current stress, social support, and socioeconomic status. Conclusions. Childhood experiences are associated with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. BCEs should be considered an important promotive factor, independent of ACEs, for psychological well-being during a global public health crisis. BCEs should be included along with ACEs in future research and screening with distressed and vulnerable populations.

Adverse and Benevolent Childhood Experiences Predict Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

osf.io/d8xys/

If platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the engines of social media use, what is the gasoline? The answer can be found in the psychological dynamics behind consumer habit formation and performance. In fact, the financial success of different social media sites is closely tied to the daily‐use habits they create among users. We explain how the rewards of social media sites motivate user habit formation, how social media design provides cues that automatically activate habits and nudge continued use, and how strong habits hinder quitting social media. Demonstrating that use habits are tied to cues, we report a novel test of a 2008 change in Facebook design, showing that it impeded posting only of frequent, habitual users, suggesting that the change disrupted habit automaticity. Finally, we offer predictions about the future of social media sites, highlighting the features most likely to promote user habits.

Habits and the electronic herd: The psychology behind social media’s successes and failures

The Accidental Checkmate: Understanding the Intent behind sharing Misinformation on Social Media