Month: February 2021

The second of nine PANSOC webinars this spring will convene on 11^th March: Jessica Dimka, S-E Mamelund and Nan Zou Bakkeli, all at Oslo Metropolitan University, will present on “The role of SES in adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions during the first wave of COVID-19 in Norway

Please send e-mail to masv@oslomet.no to get the ZOOM-link for the webinar

Blurb: In the absence of antiviral medications and vaccines to fight the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 governments had to respond by relying on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to control the disease burden. Socioeconomic inequalities likely influenced the ability or willingness of individuals to adopt these measures in both private and work contexts. Using survey data from a representative sample of the Norwegian working population, we study to what extent socioeconomic status as measured by income was a significant predictor of more handwashing, keeping 1m distance from others, using protective equipment such as masks, more use of home office, and less use of public transportation in a private and work context during the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the winter and spring of 2020. With the exception of using protective equipment and using less public transportation in a private context, all analyzed NPIs showed a clear and independent positive association with income controlling for age, sex, region and education. Social disparities in adopting central public health measures suggested by governments may be important drivers for higher risks of infection, hospitalization and mortality for people of lower socioeconomic status, as documented in Norway and several countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For ZOOM-link to each of the seminars, please e-mail us at: masv@oslomet.no

25^th February: Joel Floris & Kaspar Staub, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM), University of Zurich: The “Pandemic Memory Gap”

11^th March 11: Jessica Dimka and S-E Mamelund, both at Oslo Metropolitan University: “The role of SES in adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions during the first wave of COVID-19 in Norway”

18^th March: Siddharth Chandra, Michigan State University, USA: “Demographic impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic”

25th March: Lone Simonsen, Roskilde University, Denmark: “The First Year of the COVID-19 pandemic”

15^th April: Rick J. Mourits, International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam, the Netherlands: “Occupational characteristics and spatial inequalities in mortality during 1918-9 influenza pandemic in the Netherlands”

22^nd April: Lisa Sattenspiel, University of Missouri, USA: “Comparing COVID-19 and the 1918 flu in rural vs. urban counties of Missouri”.

29^th April: Taylor Paskoff University of Missouri, USA: “Determinants of post-1918 influenza pandemic tuberculosis mortality in Newfoundland”.

6^th May: Gerardo Chowell-Puente, Georgia State University, USA: “Comparative analysis of excess mortality patterns during pandemics in Arizona and Mexico”.

20^th May: Jessica Dimka, Oslo Metropolitan University: “Disability, Institutionalization, and the 1918 Flu Pandemic: From Historical Records to Simulation Models”. (1600-1730 CET)

10th June: Prof. Erica Charters, University of Oxford, “How epidemics ends”.

Joël Floris & Kaspar Staub, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM), University of Zurich, presents on the “Pandemic gap” at PANSOC webinar series 25th February 16:00-17:00 (CET). For ZOOM-link to the seminar, please e-mail us at: masv@oslomet.no

See the full program of 9 webinars this spring here: PANSOC webinars – Centre for Research on Pandemics & Society (PANSOC) (oslomet.no)

Blurb: “But as is so often the case in our country, the population is needed. We, dear fellow citizens, have it in our hands”: This public call from the President of the Swiss Confederation, Simonetta Sommaruga, on 21 March 2020 for all people to work together to counter the coronavirus pandemic is of utmost relevance because the population and its behaviour are the most important aspect in an epidemic. But experiences of past epidemics in the public at large are insufficient and we postulate a pandemic disaster memory gap, particularly in Switzerland among the general public. Consequently, we are calling for more science communication to a wider public, as well as to policy-makers.

For a short introduction to the concept of “Pandemic memory gap”, please see thus Op-Ed published in in Swiss Medical Weekly 12.11.2020: Swiss Medical Weekly – Op-eds – The “Pandemic Gap” in Switzerland across the 20th century and the necessity of increased science communication of past pandemic experiences (smw.ch)