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We are writing this openly-published letter to express deep concerns regarding the paper recently published in JAMA Network Open: Estimation of US Children’s Educational Attainment and Years of Life Lost Associated With Primary School Closures During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.28786The paper by Christakis, Van Cleve, and Zimmerman(2020,abbrev. CVZ) is built upon multiple critically flawed assumptions, obvious misuse of the standard analytical tools, and clear mistakes in study design. Additionally, the analysis presented contains crucial mathematical and statistical errors that completely revert the main results, sufficient that if the estimates had been calculated according to the declared methodology, the results would completely contradict the stated conclusions and policy recommendations. These are not idle criticisms. This study has received enormous public attention, and its results immediately appeared in discussions of public health policies around schools worldwide. The central question is resolving an evidence base for the inevitable tradeoff between (a) the very real harms of missed education provoked by policies that decrease viral spread vs. (b) the resumption of education as a social good which increases viral spread. This is an incredibly important public health question, and it demands careful cost-benefit analysis. To that end, this paper adds no usable evidence whatsoever.

An extended brief overviewing a bread swath of responses from higher educational institutions worldwide, to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ESPON virtual peer-learning workshop focused on land-sea interactionsrelating to tourism and COVID-19 as a potential game changer. Particularemphasis was given to the future of cruise tourism in the Adriatic Sea. The maingoal of the event was to inspire policymaking and practices for a more sustainableand resilient development of hosting port-cities. Based on ESPON evidence andreflections from academics and key stakeholders, the workshop aimed to definegood practices and approaches that can serve as base for future collaborationsbetween the host port cities and the cruise sector. The main target groups werepolicymakers, regional stakeholders and experts.

Aim: Use of tele-health programs and wearable sensors that allow patients to monitor their own vital signs have been expanded in response to COVID-19. We aimed to explore the utility of patient-held data during presentation as medical emergencies. Methods: We undertook a systematic scoping review of two groups of studies: studies using non-invasive vital sign monitoring in patients with chronic diseases aimed at preventing unscheduled reviews in primary care, hospitalization or emergency department visits and studies using vital sign measurements from wearable sensors for decision making by clinicians on presentation of these patients as emergencies. Only studies that described a comparator or control group were included. Studies limited to inpatient use of devices were excluded. Results: The initial search resulted in 896 references for screening, nine more studies were identified through searches of references. 26 studies fulfilled inclusion and exclusion criteria and were further analyzed. The majority of studies were from telehealth programs of patients with congestive heart failure or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. There was limited evidence that patient held data is currently used to risk-stratify the admission or discharge process for medical emergencies. Studies that showed impact on mortality or hospital admission rates measured vital signs at least daily. We identified no interventional study using commercially available sensors in watches or smart phones. Conclusions: Further research is needed to determine utility of patient held monitoring devices to guide management of acute medical emergencies at the patients’ home, on presentation to hospital and after discharge back to the community.

In this blog post, we explore the tourism encounters between Arctic tourism entrepreneurs and domestic tourists in times of the Covid-19 pandemic. What stories about local culture and everyday life are told to the domestic visitors and how are local communities coping with new forms of tourism development?

The need is now, but the solution takes over ten years. The race for speed is on, facilitated by billion-dollar fundraising and sustained investment in public-private partnerships. Accelerating COVID-19 vaccine development to “pandemic speed” has included many simultaneous projects, parallel clinical trials, fast-tracking experimental technology, and committing manufacturing capacity before regulatory approval.