Behavioral strategies to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 infection

COVID-19: Implications for Physical Activity, Health Disparities, and Health Equity

Physical activity is one of the most efficacious pathways to promoting mental and physical health, preventing disease, and, most important during the COVID-19 pandemic, bolstering a stronger immune system. Efforts to "flatten the curve" have resulted in the temporary closure of exercise facilities and gyms, suspension of sport activities, and advisories to avoid public recreational spaces. All of these changes have made traditional opportunities to be physically active difficult to access. These changes have also exacerbated existing disparities in access to social and environmental supports for physical activity, potentially contributing to a widening gap in physical activity participation among those at greatest risk for COVID-19. Physical activity can play a special role in reducing the inequitable consequences of COVID-19; however, expansion and better targeting of evidence-informed interventions are needed that address the unique barriers present in communities that have been economically and socially marginalized to achieve health equity in COVID-19 outcomes. This review highlights effective and feasible strategies that provide more equitable access to physical activity programs and spaces across the United States. With a renewed investment in physical activity, this behavior can play a crucial role in improving population health and reducing disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

COVID-19 countermeasures of Chinese national athletes: Prevention, treatment, and return to play

Under the condition of normalized epidemic, how athletes train and compete well has been in the spotlight. This article reported the symptom, hospitalization and training situation of seven confirmed cases of coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) among Chinese national teams. Moreover, the paper summarized the experience of Chinese national teams in terms of epidemic prevention and control, treatment of infection, and safe return to play. Through a scientific combination of medication and non-medical treatment, seven athletes were all discharged from the hospital. These discharged athletes underwent strict isolation and scientific training before returning to sports teams. Before returning to play, continuous monitoring of physical and mental condition was required. All seven athletes returned to play safely and performed excellently. As for hosting large-scale sporting events, the entire enclosed-loop management from immigration to competition was proposed in this paper. This study could serve as a standard of epidemic prevention and control, treatment for infection and safe return to play during competition and training around the world.

Strategies for COVID-19 Epidemiological Surveillance in India: Overall Policies Till June 2021

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has gripped the entire world, almost paralysing the human race in its entirety. The virus rapidly transmits via human-to-human medium resulting in a massive increase of patients with COVID-19. In order to curb the spread of the disease, an immediate action of complete lockdown was implemented across the globe. India with a population of over 1.3 billion was not an exception and took the challenge to execute phase-wise lockdown, unlock and partial lockdown activities. In this study, we intend to summarise these different phases that the Government of India (GoI) imposed to fight against SARS-CoV-2 so that it can act as a reference guideline to help controlling future waves of COVID-19 and similar pandemic situations in India.