‘Unprecedented times’: historical narratives of public health in the built environment

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 is stable on surfaces for extended periods under indoor conditions. In the present study, simulated sunlight rapidly inactivated SARS-CoV-2 suspended in either simulated saliva or culture media and dried on stainless steel coupons. Ninety percent of infectious virus was inactivated every 6.8 minutes in simulated saliva and every 14.3 minutes in culture media when exposed to simulated sunlight representative of the summer solstice at 40°N latitude at sea level on a clear day. Significant inactivation also occurred, albeit at a slower rate, under lower simulated sunlight levels. The present study provides the first evidence that sunlight may rapidly inactivate SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces, suggesting that persistence, and subsequently exposure risk, may vary significantly between indoor and outdoor environments. Additionally, these data indicate that natural sunlight may be effective as a disinfectant for contaminated nonporous materials.

Children are likely to struggle with mental health consequences relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. School closures and home confinement increase the risk for emotional distress, domestic violence and abuse, and social isolation, as well as for disruption of sleep-wake and meal cycles, physical exercise routines, and health care access. As schools reopen, school mental health programs (SMHPs) incorporating universal approaches will be important for all children, and targeted approaches will be necessary for those more severely affected. Using their experience in Pakistan, the authors provide a roadmap for extending the World Health Organization's eastern Mediterranean region's SMHP to address the mental health consequences of COVID-19 among children globally.

The restrictions imposed by the Italian government because of the coronavirus outbreak have been shown to be demanding on the Italian population. Data were collected at four different time points from 29 March 2020 to 3 May 2020 and during the final follow-up survey on 12 October 2020. In the present study, we provided longitudinal evidence on the relationship between the lockdown and mental health dimensions, such as emotional state, perceived stress, and time perspective, for three age groups. The results allowed us to observe their psychological status from different perspectives at five different time points. Notably, a negative effect of the lockdown individual well-beings emerged as a trend, and differences in individual adaptation strategies to a prolonged stressful situation were observed at the follow-up. Indeed, pairwise comparisons between age groups showed that the young adult group (18-23 years old) seemed to be the most psychologically affected by the lockdown. The findings are discussed according to the most recent literature on the topic. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first longitudinal studies carried out in Italy concerning the general psychological effects of the coronavirus lockdown.