China has adopted a variety of digital technologies to effectively combat the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The massive utilisation of digital technologies, however, to a great extent, magnifies the age-related digital divide. This paper aims to examine the impacts of the age-related digital divide on older adults in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases of three age-related digital divide scenarios, including older people taking public transportation, seeking medical care, as well as conducting digital transactions, are collected from Chinese official news outlets. The results indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates the pace of digital technology utilisation but exacerbates the age-related digital divide. Such an age-related digital divide has largely excluded older adults from both the real society and the virtual society. Older adults’ personal attitudes and motivations, as well as education and income, governmental policies, and family and social supports, are all major contributors to the severe impacts of the age-related digital divide on old adults during the pandemic. More measures should be adopted to bridge the age-related digital divide and build a senior-friendly e-society.

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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread to more than 200 countries. Thus far, reports regarding multi-center data from throughout gestation in women with COVID-19 and newborn outcomes are scarce.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from 92 pregnant women with COVID-19 (PW-COVID-19) and their 78 newborns from 27 hospitals in 12 regions of Hubei, China. The demographic, epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic data and pregnancy, perinatal, and neonatal outcomes were analyzed. Follow-up was censored until April 7, 2020.Findings: Median maternal age was 31.0 years (IQR 28·0-33·0), with nine patients in the first trimester, five in the second trimester, and 78 in the third trimester. None of the patients died, and most (92·4%) recovered and were discharged. Seventy-five deliveries (including three sets of twins) comprised 66 cesarean sections and nine vaginal deliveries, with 21 preterm and 57 full-term infants. Seventeen live births had radiological findings of pulmonary infection. One newborn tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, and three newborns were viral antibody-positive: two IgG (+) and IgM (-), and one IgG (+) and IgM (+). The median suspected duration of virus exposure was 7 days (IQR 0 to 27).Interpretation: Compared to the pregnant women with other viral infections, such as SARS, MERS, and Zika virus infection, PW-COVID-19 had similar manifestations and relatively better outcomes. The termination time and delivery mode in PW-COVID-19 should be evaluated based on both the maternal and fetal situations. The possibility of maternal-to-fetal transmission of SARS-CoV-2 requires further investigation.Authors Shujie Liao and Renjie Wang contributed equally to this work.