GerontologyThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was first detected in patients with pneumonia of an unknown cause in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It has since been confirmed as the pathogen for the new coronavirus pneumonia, recently named "coronavirus disease 2019" (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization. Although the general population is commonly susceptible to the disease, infected elderly people show fast progression and severe manifestations with a high proportion in critical condition as a result of compromised immunity and underlying diseases. In order to improve the quality of nursing, reduce complications, and decrease mortality of critically ill elderly patients, we assembled a national expert group with expertise in critical nursing to write this consensus, based on a literature review and a subsequent panel discussion. The consensus covers the assessment, clinical nursing, discharge care, and other aspects of care for critically ill elderly patients with COVID-19, aiming to share insights and provide guidance for clinical practice. K E Y W O R D S critical illness, novel coronavirus, nursing, pneumonia 2 |

Yunnan–Guizhou quasi-stationary front (YGQSF) is a unique weather phenomenon that frequently occurs during the winter half year over the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau in southwestern China. Most of the previous studies analyzed it only with synoptic cases. This study investigates the structure, variation, and impact of this front from a climate perspective, using long-term high-resolution atmospheric reanalyses and high-density station records for 1981–2016. An objective method quantifying YGQSF is proposed and three indexes are defined to measure its intensity, frequency, and location, respectively, with horizontal gradient of air potential temperature at a terrain-following level of sigma 0.995. With these indexes, climatological structure, subseasonal variability as well as climatic impact of the front are comprehensively examined. In climatology, YGQSF as a north–south-oriented low-level front is found to occur the most frequently during January–February–March, determined predominately by the coldness from the east of the front. The structure of the front identified essentially reflects an obstruction of high-terrain Yunnan (the western part of the plateau) to the low-level cold air mass, which makes near-surface cold northeasterly winds cease westward intruding and veer upward over relatively low-terrain Guizhou, transporting moisture upward and forming low clouds. A sharp climate contrast is thus formed between two sides of the front: cold, sunless, and continuously rainy Guizhou versus warm and sunny Yunnan. Furthermore, the front features significant subseasonal variations with periods at around 30 days and 60 days largely in its intensity. Anomalously strong YGQSF events which are caused 75% by the cold anomaly from the east but no more than 17% by the warm anomaly from the west yield different anomalous structures, but consistently amplify the sharp climate contrast between Yunnan and Guizhou.

In past decades, several prominent sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) modes in midlatitude North Pacific are identified on decadal-to-interdecadal timescale, that is,