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Several SARS-CoV-2 variants that evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic have appeared to differ in severity, based on analyses of single-country datasets. With decreased SARS-CoV-2 testing and sequencing, international collaborative studies will become increasingly important for timely assessment of the severity of newly emerged variants. The Joint WHO Regional Office for Europe and ECDC Infection Severity Working Group was formed to produce and pilot a standardised study protocol to estimate relative variant case-severity in settings with individual-level SARS-CoV-2 testing and COVID-19 outcome data during periods when two variants were co-circulating. To assess feasibility, the study protocol and its associated statistical analysis code was applied by local investigators in Denmark, England, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and Scotland to assess the case-severity of Omicron BA.1 relative to Delta cases. After pooling estimates using meta-analysis methods (random effects estimates), the risk of hospital admission (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]=0.41, 95% CI 0.31-0.54), ICU admission (aHR=0.12, 95% CI 0.05-0.27), and death (aHR=0.31, 95% CI 0.28-0.35) was lower for Omicron BA.1 compared to Delta cases. The aHRs varied by age group and vaccination status. In conclusion, this study has demonstrated the feasibility of conducting variant severity analyses in a multinational collaborative framework. The results add further evidence for the reduced severity of the Omicron BA.1 variant. 21 pages, 6 figures (excluding supplementary material)

The world has seen numerous infectious disease outbreaks in the past decade. In many cases these outbreaks have had considerable perinatal health consequences including increased risk of preterm delivery (e.g., influenza, measles, and COVID-19), and the delivery of low birth weight or small for gestational age babies (e.g., influenza, COVID-19). Furthermore, severe perinatal outcomes including perinatal and infant death are a known consequence of multiple infectious diseases (e.g., Ebola virus disease, Zika virus disease, pertussis, and measles). In addition to vaccination during pregnancy (where possible), pregnant women, are provided some level of protection from the adverse effects of infection through community-level application of evidence-based transmission-control methods. This review demonstrates that it takes almost 2 years for the perinatal impacts of an infectious disease outbreak to be reported. However, many infectious disease outbreaks between 2010 and 2020 have no associated pregnancy data reported in the scientific literature, or pregnancy data is reported in the form of case-studies only. This lack of systematic data collection and reporting has a negative impact on our understanding of these diseases and the implications they may have for pregnant women and their unborn infants. Monitoring perinatal health is an essential aspect of national and global healthcare strategies as perinatal life has a critical impact on early life mortality as well as possible effects on later life health. The unpredictable nature of emerging infections and the potential for adverse perinatal outcomes necessitate that we thoroughly assess pregnancy and perinatal health implications of disease outbreaks and their public health interventions in tandem with outbreak response efforts. Disease surveillance programs should incorporate perinatal health monitoring and health systems around the world should endeavor to continuously collect perinatal health data in order to quickly update pregnancy care protocols as needed.

This report illustrates the factors that influence the decision-making processes of individuals whentaking part in the contemporary art market, notwithstanding the risk often attributed to such asset and the economic uncertainty of periods such as the aftermath of Covid-19. By examining the motivations from different perspectives, this report aims to shed light on the dynamics of the contemporary art market and its resilience in the face of economic instability. To answer the research question what factors drive individuals in Denmark to take part in the contemporary art market amidst the current economic uncertainty? We carry out semi-structured interviews with two amateur art buyers, one curator, and two owners of renowned contemporary art galleries. The results show that investing in contemporary art 1) yields socio-economic advantages 2) is influenced by trust towards the artist, and 3) is a matter of familial background. The research emphasizes how these factors influences the perception of risk in the individuals when investing in a piece of contemporary art. The purpose of this study is to identify the key factors that affect participants' engagement with the art market by investigating their personal motivations, risk perceptions, and investment strategies. The research is also particularly useful and relevant given the current economic uncertainty and its potential effects on the investment landscape. The results of this study will add to the body of knowledge that exists aboutthe contemporary art investment market by giving a more in-depth and precise understanding of the factors that influence people to invest in art despite the current state of the economy.

Abstract The question of whether SARS-CoV-2 is mainly transmitted by droplets or aerosols has been highly controversial. We sought to explain this controversy through a historical analysis of transmission research in other diseases. For most of human history, the dominant paradigm was that many diseases were carried by the air, often over long distances and in a phantasmagorical way. This miasmatic paradigm was challenged in the mid to late 19th century with the rise of germ theory, and as diseases such as cholera, puerperal fever, and malaria were found to actually transmit in other ways. Motivated by his views on the importance of contact/droplet infection, and the resistance he encountered from the remaining influence of miasma theory, prominent public health official Charles Chapin in 1910 helped initiate a successful paradigm shift, deeming airborne transmission most unlikely. This new paradigm became dominant. However, the lack of understanding of aerosols led to systematic errors in the interpretation of research evidence on transmission pathways. For the next five decades, airborne transmission was considered of negligible or minor importance for all major respiratory diseases, until a demonstration of airborne transmission of tuberculosis (which had been mistakenly thought to be transmitted by droplets) in 1962. The contact/droplet paradigm remained dominant, and only a few diseases were widely accepted as airborne before COVID-19: those that were clearly transmitted to people not in the same room. The acceleration of interdisciplinary research inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that airborne transmission is a major mode of transmission for this disease, and is likely to be significant for many respiratory infectious diseases.

Background: One strategy for reducing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is to contain the infection with broad screening, isolate infected individuals, and subsequently, trace any contacts. This strategy requires widely available, reliable testing for SARS-CoV-2. To increase testing, rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) were developed for self-sampling, self-testing, and self-interpretation. The present study aimed to examine diagnostic performance, user acceptability, and safety of nasal self-RADTs, compared to standard PCR testing. Methods: In this manufacturer-independent prospective study, we evaluated two different COVID-19 RADTs, made in Denmark and China, for use as unsupervised self-tests. Participants were recruited from an ambulatory public COVID-19 test center in Aarhus, Denmark. Self-RADT kits, including instructions, were distributed at the test center or delivered to participants. Participants reported test results and test preferences. During enrollment, participants reported the occurrence and duration of symptoms that were consistent with COVID-19. The sensitivity and specificity of each RADT, relative to PCR testing, were calculated. Findings: Among 827 participants, 102 showed positive PCR test results. The sensitivities of the self-RADTs were 65·7% (95% CI: 49·2–79·2; Danish) and 62·1% (95% CI: 50·1–72·9; Chinese), and the specificities were 100% (95% CI: 99·0–100; Danish) and 100% (95% CI: 98·9–100; Chinese). The sensitivities of both self-RADTs were higher in symptomatic participants than in asymptomatic participants. Two out of every three participants preferred the self-RADT over the PCR test. Interpretation: Self-performed RADTs were reliable, user acceptable, and safe among lay people as an alternative to professionally collected oropharyngeal PCR testing. Funding: None to declare. Declaration of Interest: None to declare. Ethical Approval: The regional Scientific Ethics Committee of the Central Denmark Region concluded that this quality assurance study did not require scientific ethical approval (reference number 1-10-72-1-20). The Danish Medicines Agency concluded that the study did not require approval from them.

This article builds on fieldwork conducted in 2019 and 2020 and examines the implications of Covid-19 lockdown for the engagement of Danish Muslim women in Islamic educational activities. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari (2012) and Larkin (2008b), it displays how technological infrastructure influences religious practice and the constitution of religious space. For the women engaged in Islamic education, the forced use of digital-media technologies unmoored conditions for being at activities, reorganized time and space, and changed conditions for relating to communities. As home became the territory from where the women conducted all religious practices, including educational activities, classes and seminars were accessed on more individualized terms and became more easily integrated with other everyday activities. This made room for expanding engagement and accessing more diverse educational opportunities. At the same time, it withdrew the women from spaces of bodily and sensory togetherness, where feelings of community and connection would usually be nurtured.

Public transport is a critical service in Copenhagen, Denmark, because many residents do not own a car, and in any event, car travel is not practical in the city center due to narrow roads and lack of parking. In response to COVID-19, Danish public health authorities have established a minimum 1-m social distancing policy in public spaces. This study simulates passenger pedestrian flow in three representative stations of the Copenhagen metro to determine if these goals can be attained and if any physical changes should be made. The study is conducted with a microsimulation in commercially available software of the passenger flow in three representative stations, with small, medium, and large traffic flows. The simulation is agent-based, and the individual objective function is minimum cost according to walking distance, comfort, and frustration. The results show that for the majority of stations, the physical infrastructure and the expected traffic flow are compatible with the social distancing goals. However, for a few of the highest demand stations, particularly those that serve as intermodal hubs, there are great difficulties in achieving the desired social distancing measures. In particular, the intermodal hub station of Nørreport does not possess corridors and escalators that are distributed correctly according to the pedestrian flow. This station is underground, and it is unfortunately not easy to change this infrastructure.

In times of crisis, humans have a tendency to turn to religion for comfort and explanation. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Using daily and weekly data on Google searches for 107 countries, this research demonstrates that the COVID-19 crisis resulted in a massive rise in the intensity of prayer. During the early months of the pandemic, Google searches for prayer relative to all Google searches rose by 30%, reaching the highest level ever recorded. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that by April 1, 2020, more than half of the world population had prayed to end the coronavirus. Prayer searches remained 10% higher than previously throughout 2020, particularly so in Europe and the Americas. Prayer searches rose more among the more religious, rose on all continents, at all levels of income, inequality, and insecurity, and for all types of religion, except Buddhism. The increase is not merely a substitute for services in the physical churches that closed down to limit the spread of the virus. Instead, the rise is due to an intensified demand for religion: People pray to cope with adversity. The results thus reveal that religiosity has risen globally due to the pandemic with potential direct long-term consequences for various socio-economic outcomes.