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This dataset provides information related to the outbreak of COVID-19 disease in the United States, including data from each of 3142 US counties from the beginning of the outbreak (January 2020) until June 2021. This data is collected from many public online databases and includes the daily number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths, as well as 46 features that may be relevant to the pandemic dynamics: demographic, geographic, climatic, traffic, public-health, social-distancing-policy adherence, and political characteristics of each county. We anticipate many researchers will use this dataset to train models that can predict the spread of COVID-19 and to identify the key driving factors.

When Dr. Harold Riemer, Professor and Dean with the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies (KHS), was looking at what the upcoming semesters in KHS would look like, he knew that he wanted to find a way to offer a classroom experience to students, while adhering to all COVID-19 restrictions. The faculty worked together and came up with creative solutions to have small, in-person classes in addition to an extensive amount of remote courses. Staff no

Classical epidemiological models assume mass action. However, this assumption is violated when interactions are not random. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting shelter in place social distancing directives, mass action models must be modified to account for limited social interactions. In this paper we apply a pairwise network model with moment closure to study the early transmission of COVID-19 in New York and San Francisco and to investigate the factors determining the severity and duration of outbreak in these two cities. In particular, we consider the role of population density, transmission rates and social distancing on the disease dynamics and outcomes. Sensitivity analysis shows that there is a strongly negative correlation between the clustering coefficient in the pairwise model and the basic reproduction number and the effective reproduction number. The shelter in place policy makes the clustering coefficient increase thereby reducing the basic reproduction number and the effective reproduction number. By switching population densities in New York and San Francisco we demonstrate how the outbreak would progress if New York had the same density as San Francisco and vice-versa. The results underscore the crucial role that population density has in the epidemic outcomes. We also show that under the assumption of no further changes in policy or transmission dynamics not lifting the shelter in place policy would have little effect on final outbreak size in New York, but would reduce the final size in San Francisco by 97%.

Introduction: Active transportation (AT) has dual benefits: population health benefits with increased physical activity and environmental sustainability with decreased carbon emissions. Despite the city’s low geographic density, residents of Kingston, Canada use AT for 9.5% of trips, compared to the country’s average of 6.9%. Additionally, employees of Queen’s University demonstrated even higher rates of active commuting before the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study was to compare the levels and correlates of transportation use among Queen’s University employees pre- versus post-COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Self-reported, repeated cross-sectional, and quasi-experimental data were used from the Surveys of Commute Patterns among Queen’s University Employees, conducted in 2013 to 2017 (n = 3874) and 2022 (n = 2430). Respondents’ primary mode of transportation between home and workplace was categorized as either AT, passive transportation (PT), or mixed transportation (MT) when different modes were combined. A descriptive analysis and chi-square test were performed to compare the levels of transportation use before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A series of logistic regressions were conducted to identify the individual- and microsystem-level correlates of AT use before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: AT use decreased after the COVID-19 pandemic, from 28.3% to 23.6%, mirroring the increased use of passive transport (52.1% to 55.4%). Within-subject comparisons showed that young and low-income respondents were the most likely to shift transport types from pre- to post-COVID-19 pandemic. At all time points, females/women were less likely to use AT than males/men. After the COVID-19 pandemic, income emerged as a key correlate of AT use. Conclusion: Significant world events like the COVID-19 pandemic appear to influence transportation choices and modes in unique ways among Queen’s employees. In general, AT was found to decline. Age and household income were important correlates for commute shifting since the COVID-19 pandemic. Sex/gender became a more important correlate in shaping transport mode post-COVID-19. To encourage shifting to more sustainable and health-enhancing transport modes among those with low and/or declining rates of AT, changes to supportive social environment and infrastructure must be considered in the Queen’s University community.

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honour’s Psychology, B.A.

The University of Manitoba’s science librarians developed a three-credit, second-year course entitled “Information Skills for the Sciences” that was delivered for the first time in the fall of 2020. The culminating project of the course was a scientific poster session where students shared their research project as a poster presentation with their instructors and classmates. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course was moved to online synchronous delivery and all assignments needed to be adapted for the online format. We designed a virtual poster session simulating an in-person event, hosting the poster session on Zoom for a class of twenty students using breakout rooms to separate presentations. Our poster details the methods used to deliver an online in-class poster session in an undergraduate setting with visualizations to illustrate the experience. Despite the conditions of remote learning, the poster presentation session allowed students to engage meaningfully with the research of their classmates demonstrating that an exciting end-of-semester event like an in-person poster session was possible in an online environment. We discuss the challenges we encountered creating the poster session as well as our reflections on what worked and what might be improved in the future.

In January of 2022, the self entitled #UnitedWeRoll convoy arrived in Ottawa and other locations around Canada to demonstrate against COVID-19 health measures and protest governments in Canada. While the group originated online, the in-person demonstrators commenced a month-long occupation that impacted international trade, community safety and brought the still raging conversation about COVID-19 even more to the forefront of Canadian society. With online communities being an influential venue for political discussion, it is important to understand the role of social media platforms and how social media content creators contribute to social and political movements on and offline. In this research, I analyze social media content produced by members of the far right on TikTok using the 2022 Canadian anti COVID-19 mandate demonstrations as a case study in order to gain insight into how far right movements in Canada grow and recruit new members to their networks.

Strength, resilience, adaptability, and compassion - these are the building blocks of the Regina COVID-19 Volunteer Community Response Team, a community support network initiated by Dr. JoLee Sasakamoose, Associate Professor in Educational Psychology and Counselling at the University of Regina. Since a state of emergency was announced by the Government of Saskatchewan in March 2020, the Regina COVID Response team of five core members and numerous volunteers has been working day and night to support Elders and other vulnerable Indigenous people in Regina, who do not have a network of family or caregivers. Staff no

The Covid-19 Pandemic has highlighted how important the healthcare sector is as critical infrastructure. It has also revealed how vulnerable the healthcare critical infrastructure is to malicious cyber operations. The number of cyber operations against the healthcare sector has increased substantially since the onset of the pandemic, seemingly unregulated by international law, particularly jus ad bellum. This paper argues that cyber operations that target or intend to target healthcare critical infrastructure should be treated as a use of force and armed attack because any intentional disruption to business continuity can and will cause physical harm and potential loss of life. Using the 2017 WannaCry Ransomware attack on the United Kingdom as a case study, this paper analyzes four approaches to classifying a cyber operation as a use of force and armed attack. The first approach is the Instrument Based Approach, which emphasizes a textual reading of the United Nations Charter. The second approach is the Strict Liability Approach, which treats all cyber operations against critical infrastructure as an armed attack. Third, the Effects Based Approach endorsed by the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the International Law Applicable to Cyberspace, which emphasizes the scale and effect of a cyber operation. Fourth, the Cyber Physical System Approach, which emphasizes the intent of the attack. Finding these approaches insufficient, this paper advocates for a Healthcare Based Approach which would consider any cyber operation rising above the level of espionage on healthcare critical infrastructure as an armed attack.

Despite ongoing relationship building efforts at the community level, Indigenous and immigrant and refugee newcomer communities in Canada continue to experience a fractured relationship characterized by misperceptions, misunderstandings and tension. One of the predominant reasons for this ongoing fractured relationship is the lack of community-driven, decolonial information that each community receives about the other. This project sought to respond to this reality, by exploring the experience of an online relationship building Talking Circle and video-making process, where Indigenous and newcomer youth reflected on their identities as newcomer or Indigenous peoples and the possibilities for transformed relationships between both communities. The video that was created then went on to be shared with Indigenous and newcomer serving organizations within Winnipeg and was posted free online, becoming a potential community-driven, decolonial relationship building resource for community members to access. This project was guided by an Indigenous research paradigm, as well as the visiting way, storytelling and arts-based methodologies. Overall, this project found an imbalance in perceptions between both communities, alongside relationship building possibilities within increasing opportunities for community-driven, decolonial information to be transferred, shared minority experiences and cultural strengths, and the need for both formal and informal relationship building opportunities. Several key implications for social work practice are discussed and recommendations for bridging relations between Indigenous and newcomer communities are proposed.