Social-distancing directives to contain community transmission of the COVID-19 virus can be expected to affect sleep timing, duration or quality. Remote work or school may increase time available for sleep, with benefits for immune function and mental health, particularly in those individuals who obtain less sleep than age-adjusted recommendations. Young adults are thought to regularly carry significant sleep debt related in part to misalignment between endogenous circadian clock time and social time. We examined the impact of social-distancing measures on sleep in young adults by comparing sleep self-studies submitted by students enrolled in a university course during the 2020 summer session (entirely remote instruction, N = 80) with self-studies submitted by students enrolled in the same course during previous summer semesters (on-campus instruction, N = 452; cross-sectional study design). Self-studies included 2–8 week sleep diaries, two chronotype questionnaires, written reports, and sleep tracker (Fitbit) data from a subsample. Students in the 2020 remote instruction semester slept later, less efficiently, less at night and more in the day, but did not sleep more overall despite online, asynchronous classes and ~44% fewer work days compared to students in previous summers. Subjectively, the net impact on sleep was judged as positive or negative in equal numbers of students, with students identifying as evening types significantly more likely to report a positive impact, and morning types a negative impact. Several features of the data suggest that the average amount of sleep reported by students in this summer course, historically and during the 2020 remote school semester, represents a homeostatic balance, rather than a chronic deficit. Regardless of the interpretation, the results provide additional evidence that social-distancing measures affect sleep in heterogeneous ways.

West Java Health Laboratory (WJHL) is one of the many institutions in Indonesia that have sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genome. Although having submitted a large number of sequences since September 2020, however, these submitted data lack advanced analyses. Therefore, in this study, we analyze the variant distribution, hotspot mutation, and its impact on protein structure and function of SARS-CoV-2 from the collected samples from WJHL. As many as one hundred sixty-three SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences submitted by West Java Health Laboratory (WJHL), with collection dates between September 2020 and June 2021, were retrieved from GISAID. Subsequently, the frequency and distribution of non-synonymous mutations across different cities and regencies from these samples were analyzed. The effect of the most prevalent mutations from dominant variants on the stability of their corresponding proteins was examined. The samples mostly consisted of people of working-age, and were distributed between female and male equally. All of the sample sequences showed varying levels of diversity, especially samples from West Bandung which carried the highest diversity. Dominant variants are the VOC B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, B.1.466.2 variant, and B.1.470 variant. The genomic regions with the highest number of mutations are the spike, NSP3, nucleocapsid, NSP12, and ORF3a protein. Mutation analysis showed that mutations in structural protein might increase the stability of the protein. Oppositely, mutations in non-structural protein might lead to a decrease in protein stability. However, further research to study the impact of mutations on the function of SARS-CoV-2 proteins are required.

According to World Health Organization, as of January 2021, Indonesia is the only Southeast Asian country in which COVID-19 is still occurring in community transmission. West Java is one of the provinces holding the highest positive cases number. With the envelope (E), nucleocapsid (N), and non-structural protein 12 (nsp12) being the target genes of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic kits and several antiviral drugs, the study of genetic variations has become relevant and greatly important. Out of 267 oro-nasopharyngeal swab specimens that were previously confirmed positive for COVID-19 in qPCR diagnostic test in Laboratorium Kesehatan Provinsi Jawa Barat, ten samples with acceptable qualities were selected and three samples were sequenced using Sanger sequencing. Nonsynonymous mutations were observed in the envelope gene (L21F) and in the nucleocapsid genes (R203K, G204R, A211S, and S193I). Phylogenetic analysis showed that samples were clustered with other sequences carrying identical mutations, but clustered non-discriminatively with all sequences when carrying no mutation. No pattern in geographical areas and clades, except for R203K-G204R for being a marker for the GR clade. Protein structure analysis showed that mutations observed did not change the hydrophobicity and the secondary structure of the nucleocapsid, while stability change (ΔΔG) showed that all mutations, aside from the R203K-G204R, have neutral effect on the protein stability. Therefore, it can be concluded that mutations observed in this experiment did not impart preference to disperse in certain geographical areas or cause any significant structural change in the protein.