Background. The outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown worldwide have shown a psychological impact among healthcare workers. However, data on the psychological impact among community pharmacists are lacking in the Nepalese context. Aim. This study aimed to assess the psychological distress among community pharmacists during COVID-19 pandemic. Settings and Design. A cross-sectional analytical design was adopted to study the psychological distress of pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Bharatpur. Materials and Methods. Purposive sampling method was used to select 172 community pharmacists. The COVID-19 peritraumatic distress index (CPDI) questionnaire adapted from the Shanghai Mental Health Centre was used to measure psychological distress. Statistical Analysis. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, percentage) and inferential statistics (chi-square and logistic regression) were used. Results. Out of 172 respondents, 77.9% were severely distressed while 22.1% were mild to moderately distressed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Mean age of the respondents was 27.81 ± 6.35 years. Logistic regression revealed that having education of bachelor and above (AOR = 4.489, 95% CI: 1.747, 11.539), 8 or more working hours (AOR = 7.633, 95% CI: 2.729, 21.352), being unsatisfied with the job (AOR = 11.524, 95% CI: 3.574, 37.158), and having experience of more than 3 years (AOR = 2.857, 95% CI: 1.060, 7.702) were found significantly linked to severe psychological distress among community pharmacists in Bharatpur. Conclusion. All respondents had suffered from some degree of psychological distress due to the pandemic. Our findings reveal the need for psychological intervention to alleviate psychological distress among pharmacists.

Background: The utilization of institutional delivery services is pivotal to improve maternal health and reducing maternal mortality amid childbirth. But COVID-19 pandemic is posturing considerable challenges to maintain essential maternal and newborn health services. So study aims to assess the factors associated with the utilization of institutional delivery during the COVID -19 pandemic. Methods: Data was collected from the 116 mothers of Kalika Municipality, Chitwan. The total enumerative sampling technique was used to include mothers who delivered a baby during lockdown (March 21 to August 21, 2020). Collected data were analysed by using descriptive and inferential statistics like chi-square test, logistic regression analysis.Results: Out of 116 mothers, 76.6% had their delivery in the health facilities. Logistic regression analysis showed several factors associated with utilization of institutional delivery such as ethnicity, respondents education status, distance to the nearest health facility, fear of traveling, fear to visit health facility (AOR= 4.923; 95% CI =1.475-16.432, p=0.001),perception on the risk of covid-19 to mother, and intrauterine transmission of COVID-19 (AOR= 19 5.472;95% CI 1.35-22.175;p= 0.017) was found to be statistically significant with the utilization of institutional delivery during COVID-19 pandemic.Conclusions: Several factors have been associated with the utilization of institutional delivery during pandemic. Women preferred not to seek healthcare due to the fear of being infected, lack of awareness, and misperception about COVID-19 and pregnancy. Therefore, the concerned authority should need to deliver a separate message to the pregnant women for a regular check-up and deliver a baby at a hospital.Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; institutional delivery; and utilization