Background Guidelines and recommendations from public health authorities related to face masks have been essential in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. We assessed the prevalence and correlates of mask usage during the pandemic. Methods We examined a total of 13,723,810 responses to a daily cross-sectional online survey in 38 countries of people who completed from April 23, 2020 to October 31, 2020 and reported having been in public at least once during the last 7 days. The outcome was individual face mask usage in public settings, and the predictors were country fixed effects, country-level mask policy stringency, calendar time, individual sociodemographic factors, and health prevention behaviors. Associations were modeled using survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression. Results Mask-wearing varied over time and across the 38 countries. While some countries consistently showed high prevalence throughout, in other countries mask usage increased gradually, and a few other countries remained at low prevalence. Controlling for time and country fixed effects, sociodemographic factors (older age, female gender, education, urbanicity) and stricter mask-related policies were significantly associated with higher mask usage in public settings. Crucially, social behaviors considered risky in the context of the pandemic (going out to large events, restaurants, shopping centers, and socializing outside of the household) were associated with lower mask use. Conclusion The decision to wear a face mask in public settings is significantly associated with sociodemographic factors, risky social behaviors, and mask policies. This has important implications for health prevention policies and messaging, including the potential need for more targeted policy and messaging design.

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El trabajo tiene por objeto estudiar la situación actual de la protección por la Seguridad Social de los empleados de hogar, indicando las especialidades de esta protección en relación con el resto de los trabajadores. En segundo lugar se apuntan líneas de reforma en orden a la homologación total del régimen jurídico de la Seguridad Social de este tipo de trabajadores con respectos al resto del régimen general.

1. MARCO NORMATIVO Y JURISPRUDENCIALLa sentencia estudia la naturaleza jurídica del contenido del artículo 6.4 del Decreto 1646/1972 en los supuestos de incompatibilidad de la pensión de jubilación y el incremento del 20 % de la pensión de incapacidad permanente total en la interpretación dada por la Sentencia del Tribunal Supremo (STS) de 26 de enero de 2004 (rec. 4433/2002) como norma comunitaria anticúmulo. Se estudia el artículo 46.3 d) bis en relación con el anexo IV, letra H, ambos del Reglamento (CEE) 1408/71, y el actual artículo 53 del Reglamento (CE) 883/2004. La doctrina de la sentencia ha dado lugar a un cambio de criterio de la Sala de lo Social del Tribunal Supremo, plasmado en la Sentencia de 29 de junio de 2018 (rec. 4102/2016).

BACKGROUND COVID-19 may influence healthcare seeking behaviors among university students due to their beliefs about the virus, disruptions in access to care, or both. This has not been studied among university students, particularly those attending a minority-serving institution (MSI). OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of COVID-19 on healthcare seeking behaviors among students attending an MSI. METHODS An online survey was sent to all registered students at a public MSI between February and March 2021. Frequency of in-person and virtual contacts with a healthcare professional across a sample of months in 2019 and 2020 were compared using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests. RESULTS Approximately 52.5% reported no in-person visits during the pandemic compared to 47.8% pre-pandemic (Z = -1.800, P = .07). Approximately 47.7% reported no virtual contact during the pandemic compared to 77.5% reporting no virtual contact with a medical provider pre-pandemic (Z = 11.011, P < .001). When in-person and virtual contacts were combined, 43.5% of respondents reported no virtual or in-person contact with medical providers pre-pandemic compared with 34.1% during the pandemic (Z = 3.918, P <.001). CONCLUSIONS Among university students attending a public MSI, in-person visits and contact with their respective healthcare providers decreased during the current COVID-19 pandemic. These results are of particular importance given the relationship between seeking healthcare and the maintenance of health behaviors.