With the close of 2020 unprecedented year, a year like no other, Nigerians is still reeling from the impacts of an emerging, rapidly and evolving COVID-19 pandemic, while the spring continue to unfolded. COVID-19 was considered a “deaths of despair” with an opioid crisis and realizing that humanity is in for a long haul with COVID-19, itself may be a game changer. If we expected COVID-19 to be short lived, we have been remarkably, if not catastrophically, disappointed. As many people were already feeling significantly stressed, and where depression was increasing risks of overdoses and suicide. From time immemorial, humankind have suffered the psychological effects of various catastrophes, such as wars, floods, famines, wildfires, earthquakes, windstorms and last but certainly not least, the possibility of outbreaks of potentially deadly infectious diseases. Hence, these zoonosis diseases, result from pathogens being transmitted from animals to humans. To protect ourselves from zoonoses, there is need for new measures and precautions, for instance ending and preventing deforestation as well as protecting conservation areas and endangered species against such danger. Of course, we are certainly no exception today as people try to figure out how to cope and help others cope with the grief, stress, and anxiety caused by the greatest health challenge of our time: the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. With more than 1,129 Nigerian having lost their lives as of October 24, 2020 and more than 61,882 thousand infected since COVID-19 first gripped our nation, although reports suggest that the incidence of COVID-19 has begun to drop, the pandemic has taken a profound psychological and emotional toll on us all. However, social and behavioral scientists have identified some strategies to help us face our fears, as well as even rise to the challenge of supporting others during this fraught time. While awaiting the unprecedented investment in the development of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and the simultaneous scale up of vaccine manufacturing which has been taking place, including unprecedented collaboration and resources to develop safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 that can be manufactured and delivered in the scale of billions of doses to people around the globe. Continuing in this unprecedented commitment towards collaboration as well as transparency is essential towards ensuring that effective and reliable access to information will continue to inform policy decisions at all levels to support the development of national roadmaps to accelerate as well as sustain progress towards public health interventions and building trust in communities that will benefit from a safe and effective vaccine as well as making sure we get it to them as quick as possible.

Background: Given the unprecedented novel nature and scale of coronavirus and the global nature of this public health crisis, which upended many public/environmental research norms almost overnight. However, with further waves of the virus expected and more pandemics anticipated. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 opened our eyes to the ever-changing conditions and uncertainty that exists in our world today, particularly with regards to environmental and public health practices disruption.Objectives: This paper explores environmental and public health evidence-based practices toward Responding to Covid-19.Methods: A literature review tried to do a deep dive by using a variety of search engines including Research Gate, Google Scholar, Summon, PubMed, Scopus, Hinari, Dimension, CAB Abstract, OARE Abstract, Academia, Mendeley, SSRN search strategy to retrieve research publications, “grey literature” and expert working group reports.Results: To achieve improved population health, more widespread adoption of evidence-based strategies is recommended, particularly in this uncertain time. As only together can evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) can become a reality which include effective policies and practices, transparency and accountability of decisions, and equity outcomes; these are all more relevant in resource-constrained contexts, such as Nigeria. Effective and ethical EIDM though requires the production and use of high-quality evidence that are timely, relevant and structured. One way to do so is through co-production. Co-production (or co-creation or co-design) of environmental/public health evidence considered as a key tool for addressing complex global crises such as the high risk of severe COVID-19 in different nations.Discussion: A significant evidence-based component of environmental/public health (EBEPH) consist of decisions making based on best accessible, evidence that is peer-reviewed; using data as well as systematic information systems; community engagement in policy making; conducting sound evaluation; do a thorough program-planning frameworks; as well as disseminating what is being learned. As researchers, scientists, statisticians, journal editors, practitioners, as well as decision makers strive to improve population health, having a natural tendency toward scrutinizing the scientific literature aimed at novel research findings serving as the foundation for intervention as well as prevention programs. The main inspiration behind conducting research ought to be toward stimulating and collaborating appropriately on public/environmental health action. Hence, there is need for a “Plan B” of effective behavioural, environmental, social and systems interventions (BESSI) to reduce transmission.

Given the unprecedented novel nature and scale of coronavirus and the global nature of this public health crisis, which upended many public/environmental research norms almost overnight. However, with further waves of the virus expected and more pandemics anticipated. The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 opened our eyes to the ever-changing conditions and uncertainty that exists in our world today, particularly with regards to environmental and public health practices disruption. This paper explores environmental and public health evidence-based practices toward responding to Covid-19. A literature review tried to do a deep dive through the use of various search engines such as Mendeley, Research Gate, CAB Abstract, Google Scholar, Summon, PubMed, Scopus, Hinari, Dimension, OARE Abstract, SSRN, Academia search strategy toward retrieving research publications, “gray literature” as well as reports from expert working groups. To achieve enhanced population health, it is recommended to adopt widespread evidence-based strategies, particularly in this uncertain time. As only together can evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) can become a reality which include effective policies and practices, transparency and accountability of decisions, and equity outcomes; these are all more relevant in resource-constrained contexts, such as Nigeria. Effective and ethical EIDM though requires the production as well as use of high-quality evidence that are timely, appropriate and structured. One way to do so is through co-production. Co-production (or co-creation or co-design) of environmental/public health evidence considered as a key tool for addressing complex global crises such as the high risk of severe COVID-19 in different nations. A significant evidence-based component of environmental/public health (EBEPH) consist of decisions making based on best accessible, evidence that is peer-reviewed; using data as well as systematic information systems; community engagement in policy making; conducting sound evaluation; do a thorough program-planning frameworks; as well as disseminating what is being learned. As researchers, scientists, statisticians, journal editors, practitioners, as well as decision makers strive to improve population health, having a natural tendency toward scrutinizing the scientific literature aimed at novel research findings serving as the foundation for intervention as well as prevention programs. The main inspiration behind conducting research ought to be toward stimulating and collaborating appropriately on public/environmental health action. Hence, there is need for a “Plan B” of effective behavioral, environmental, social as well as systems interventions (BESSI) toward reducing transmission.

This study evaluates factors influencing the adoption of telecommuting among the selected organisations in Nigeria. A questionnaire research tool was used basically to capture the level of awareness, interest, readiness, and perception of Nigerian organisations towards telecommuting. A total of 180 questionnaires was administered to 180 Nigerian firms in Lagos, 120 questionnaires were counted valid for analysis. This study observed high level of awareness among Nigerian organisations but paradoxically, this high level of awareness does not engender the adoption of telecommuting by those organisations. Findings revealed that the fright of difficulty in assessing employees’ performance, inadequacy of ICT infrastructures and the fear of corporate data theft are the key factors inhibiting the adoption of telecommuting by organisations. This study concluded there is a need for organisations to be aware of the benefits of telecommuting and how telecommuting policy can be devised to strategically fit into the work culture for productivity. Keywords: Telecommuting; Public Research Institutes, Adoption, Factors, Lagos.

Public awareness on environmentally sound practices viz-a-viz strategies that may also sustain a balanced work life culture cannot be overemphasized. Telecommuting represents one of those viable environmentally sound practices that offer flexibility to employees through working from their homes which to a great extent have improved employee’s productivity. This study assessed the level of awareness about telecommuting as well as the factors underpinning employee’s interest and preference for telecommuting in Lagos, Nigeria. A total of 220 responses from structured questionnaires was designed to capture the level of awareness, interest, readiness, and perception of employees towards telecommuting in Lagos Island, both descriptive and inferential analysis was used for the study. The study shows that 72% were aware of telecommuting and its associated benefits while about 90% opined that telecommuting will be suitable to their work. There was also a significant positive but weak relationship among employee’s preference for telecommuting and factors such as age, marital status, awareness about telecommuting, and the experience of traffic gridlock and its associated stress .This study concluded that with the high level of awareness of telecommuting, organisations should gainfully harness the wide array of prospects that accompanies the adoption of telecommuting which has the long term advantage of stimulating labor productivity.