The Unequal Pandemic Bambra, Clare; Lynch, Julia; Smith, Katherine E.
06/2021
eBook
Open access
Rated as a top 10 book about the COVID-19 pandemic by New Statesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2021/07/best-books-about-covid-19-pandemic
EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under ...CC-BY-NC- ND
It has been claimed that we are ‘all in it together’ and that the COVID-19 virus ‘does not discriminate’.
This accessible, yet authoritative book dispels this myth of COVID-19 as an ‘equal opportunity’ disease, by showing how the pandemic is a syndemic of disease and inequality.
Drawing on international data and accounts, it argues that the pandemic is unequal in three ways: it has killed unequally, been experienced unequally and will impoverish unequally.
These inequalities are a political choice: with governments effectively choosing who lives and who dies, we need to learn from COVID-19 quickly to prevent growing inequality and to reduce health inequalities in the future.
COVID-19 is an unequal pandemic.
As COVID-19 made inroads in the United States in spring 2020, a common refrain rose above the din: “We’re all in this together.” However, the full picture was far more complicated—and far less ...equitable. Black and Latinx populations suffered illnesses, outbreaks, and deaths at much higher rates than the general populace. Those working in low-paid jobs and those living in confined housing or communities already disproportionately beset by health problems were particularly vulnerable. The contributors to The Pandemic Divide explain how these and other racial disparities came to the forefront in 2020. They explore COVID-19’s impact on multiple arenas of daily life—including wealth, health, housing, employment, and education—while highlighting what steps could have been taken to mitigate the full force of the pandemic. Most crucially, the contributors offer concrete public policy solutions that would allow the nation to respond effectively to future crises and improve the long-term well-being of all Americans.Contributors. Fenaba Addo, Steve Amendum, Leslie Babinski, Sandra Barnes, Mary T. Bassett, Keisha Bentley-Edwards, Kisha Daniels, William A. Darity Jr., Melania DiPietro, Jane Dokko, Fiona Greig, Adam Hollowell, Lucas Hubbard, Damon Jones, Steve Knotek, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Henry Clay McKoy Jr., N. Joyce Payne, Erica Phillips, Eugene Richardson, Paul Robbins, Jung Sakong, Marta Sánchez, Melissa Scott, Kristen Stephens, Joe Trotter, Chris Wheat, Gwendolyn L. Wright
COVID-19 turned the world as we knew it upside down, impacting families around the world in profound ways. Seeking to understand this global experience, Family Life in the Time of COVID brings ...together case studies from 10 countries that explore how local responses to the pandemic shaped, and were shaped by, understandings and practices of family life. Carried out by an international team during the first year of the pandemic, these in-depth, longitudinal, qualitative investigations examined the impact of the pandemic on families and relationships across diverse contexts and cultures. They looked at how families made sense of complex lockdown laws, how they coped with collective worry about the unknown, managed their finances, fed themselves, and got to grips with online work and schooling to understand better how life had transformed (or not). In short, the research revealed their everyday joys and struggles in times of great uncertainty. Each case study follows the same methodology revealing experiences in Argentina, Chile, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the USA. They show how local government responses were understood and responded to by families, and how different cultures and life circumstances impacted everyday life during the pandemic. Ultimately the analysis demonstrates how experiences of global social upheaval are shaped by international and local policies, as well as the sociocultural ideas and practices of diverse families. Praise for Family Life in the Time of COVID 'Family Life in the Time of COVID takes us into homes that, worldwide, became the total worlds of people ordered to 'stay at home'. These poignant, evocative and engaging accounts illustrate how, in the confusion and frustration of COVID's first two years, people found bravery and inspiration - to navigate breaking points, wrestle with boredom, cook and clean, educate and mediate, and care for others and for self.' Professor Lenore Manderson, Distinguished Professor of Public Health and Medical Anthropology, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 'This wonderful book tackles a topic of vital importance. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed huge stresses on families across the world as people are faced with fears about loved ones' health, managing children's education, caring for older family members, and attempting to avoid infection or cope with illness while continuing to support the family financially. All these topics and more are covered in depth, highlighting both the shared and context-specific dimensions of these experiences across diverse nations and cultures.' Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Centre for Social Research, Health and the Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 'This is a really excellent collection. It will be a marker in the broad field of the impact of major upheavals on family lives and relationships beyond the COVID pandemic itself. The extent of international contributions goes beyond the cross-national reach of other collections on family lives.' Rosalind Edwards, Professor of Sociology, University of Southampton
This book centers on negotiations around cultural, governmental, and individual constructions of COVID-19. It considers how the coronavirus pandemic has been negotiated in different cultures and ...countries, with the final part of the volume focusing on South Asia and Pakistan in particular. The chapters include auto-ethnographic accounts and ethnographic explorations that reflect upon experiences of living with the pandemic and its implications for all areas of life. The book explicates people’s dealings with COVID-19 at various levels, situates the spread of rumors, conspiracy theories, and new social rituals within micro- and/or macro-contexts, and describes the interplay between the virus and various institutionalized forms of inequalities and structural vulnerabilities. Bringing together a variety of perspectives, the volume relates to the past, describes the Covidian present, and offers futuristic implications. It enlists distinct imaginaries based on current understandings of an extraordinary challenge that holds significant importance for our human future.
This volume elaborately studies the challenges posed and impact made by the Covid 19 pandemic. Through detailed case studies, it presents ethical, political, economic, medical, logistical and social ...impediments faced by contemporary states in the EU. The book focuses on the short and long-term consequences of the economic shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and covers issues concerning the world economy, the EU economy, as well as the Visegrad economies. The essays in this volume: Probes into the response of states to the economic phenomena resulting from the pandemic and analyses the institutional framework of the resulting crisis, lapses in social communication, social protests and the decline in democratic standards in countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary; Discusses issues related to state security under conditions of the pandemic, the effectiveness of state and self-government administration, the transition of states from an external controllability to an internal controllability model of power, as well as challenges related to security in the digital space; Presents policy actions at three basic levels, i.e. at the global, regional and sub-regional, and investigate strategies of the UN, WHO, the EU and the Visegrad Group as they play the most important role in the fight against COVID-19; This insightful and timely volume will be of great interest to scholars, researchers and anyone inquisitive about political theory, public policy, public health and social care, international relations, governance, security studies, and public administration.
The impact of different phases of COVID-19 infection on outcomes from acute calculous cholecystitis (ACC) is not well understood. Therefore, we examined outcomes of acute cholecystitis during the ...COVID-19 pandemic, comparing the effect of different treatment modalities and COVID-19 infection status. We hypothesized that patients with acute COVID-19 would have worse outcomes than COVID-negative patients, but there would be no difference between COVID-negative and COVID-recovered patients.
We used 2020-2023 National COVID Cohort Collaborative data to identify adults with ACC. Treatment (antibiotics-only, cholecystostomy tube, or cholecystectomy) and COVID-19 status (negative, active, or recovered) were collected. Treatment failure of nonoperative managements was noted. Adjusted analysis using a series of generalized linear models controlled for confounders (age, sex, body mass index, Charlson comorbidity index, severity at presentation, and year) to better assess differences in outcomes among treatment groups, as well as between COVID-19 groups.
In total, 32,433 patients (skewed count) were included: 29,749 COVID-negative, 2112 COVID-active, and 572 (skewed count) COVID-recovered. COVID-active had higher rates of sepsis at presentation. COVID-negative more often underwent cholecystectomy. Unadjusted, COVID-active had higher 30-day mortality, 30-day complication, and longer length of stay than COVID-negative and COVID-recovered. Adjusted analysis revealed cholecystectomy carried lower odds of mortality for COVID-active and COVID-negative patients than antibiotics or cholecystostomy. COVID-recovered patients’ mortality was unaffected by treatment modality. Treatment failure from antibiotics was more common for COVID-negative patients.
Acute cholecystitis outcomes are affected by phase of COVID-19 infection and treatment modality. Cholecystectomy does not lead to worse outcomes for COVID-active and COVID-recovered patients than nonoperative treatments; thus, these patients can be considered for cholecystectomy if their physiology is not prohibitive.
The year 2020 went down in economic history due to the dramatic and drastic changes in economic and social conditions that resulted from the outbreak of the global pandemic of COVID-19. This book ...offers a multi-level narrative about the pandemic, written from national and international perspectives, enabling the authors to construct several macro- and mega-scenarios. The book consists of six chapters. Four of them discuss the process of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Europe in 2020, i.e. the directions and dynamics of the spread and its socioeconomic consequences, and provide a comparative analysis of fiscal and monetary packages employed by Europe, with an emphasis on Eastern European countries. The remaining two chapters contain forecasts and scenarios. The fifth chapter, dedicated to forecasts, provides readers with a comprehensive description of possible consequences of any epidemic leading to severe social losses such as high percentages of infected and dead, limited interpersonal contacts as a result of lockdown, a lowered level of general individual and social well-being, as well as economic losses, for example a decline in production as a result of the collapse of aggregate demand and a reduction in the supply capacity of the economy, consequently slowing down the pace of capital accumulation. The sixth, final chapter describes possible scenarios of the spread of the pandemic in Poland and Ukraine, depending on measures taken by the governments of those countries. The Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 on Eastern European Countries is designed as a practical reference for scholars, researchers and policymakers.
Comment les Français ont-ils vécu le premier confinement ? Quelle place le virus a-t-il pris dans leur quotidien ? Quel a été l’impact sur leur santé mentale ? Comment ont-ils perçu la gestion de la ...crise, du confinement au futur vaccin ? Ont-ils perdu confiance ?Du 16 mars au 11 mai 2020, pour ralentir l’épidémie de Covid-19, les Français sont confinés chez eux. Cette parenthèse sidérante et inédite aurait pu survenir plus tôt, tant cette crise ressemble à d’autres… Pourtant cette cris...
PDF
