Introduction The youths’ study and physical activity (PA) patterns may have been affected by lockdown measures due to COVID-19. This study aimed to reveal how youths’ study and PA patterns had changed after implementing and lifting COVID-19 lockdown in China. Methods The COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey (COINLICS) was used, where 10,082 youth participants have voluntarily reported their study and PA patterns in the three periods before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdown. PA was measured as the weekly frequency of engaging in active transport for commuting/errands, leisure-time walking, leisure-time moderate-/vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), and moderate-/vigorous-intensity housework (MVH); study patterns were measured as the daily average study time and the major study modes. We assessed differences of these variables across educational levels, sexes, and periods. Results The significant decreases were generally observed during lockdown in the frequency of active transport for commuting/errands (1.3 to 0.2 days/week), leisure-time walking (1.0 to 0.2 days/week), leisure-time MVPA (0.7 to 0.3 days/week), and MVH (2.3 to 2.0 days/week), with heterogeneities existing between sexes and across educational levels, except for the increase in MVH engagement among graduate students, especially female (1.5 to 2.4 days/week). Rebounds were observed in the frequency of all activities except MVH after lifting lockdown (2.0 to 1.9 days/week). The average study time generally increased during lockdown, with more youths studying for 1-4 hours/day and less studying for <1 hour/day, and further increased after lockdown. A main shift of study modes has been from in-class to online study after implementing lockdown. Conclusions The youths’ PA level have generally decreased and study patterns significantly changed during and after lockdown in China. Our results would inform policy-makers and education administrators of the declined PA levels and changed study patterns among youths during COVID-19 lockdown for better policy making. In-class and/or extracurricular PA programs could be designed to counteract those effects under cooperation of youths’ parents.

Although two years have passed since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, various variants are still rampant across the globe. The Omicron variant, in particular, is rapidly gained dominance through its ability to spread. In this study, we elucidated the spatial distribution pattern of Omicron from a global perspective. We used the cumulative number of notified COVID-19 cases per country spanning four weeks up to February 10, 2022, and the proportion of the Omicron variant genomic sequences from the Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID). The global spatial distribution of Omicron was investigated by analyzing Global & Local Moran’s I and Getis- Ord General G. The spatial weight matrix was defined by combining K-Nearest neighbour and flight connectivity between countries. The results showed that the epidemic is relatively severe in Europe, countries with a high number of Omicron cases and incidence tended to be clustered spatially. In contrast, there are relatively fewer Omicron cases in Asia and Africa, with few hotspots identified. Furthermore, some noted spatial outliers, such as a lowvalue area surrounded by high-value areas, deserve special attention. This study has improved our awareness of the global distribution of Omicron. The findings can provide helpful information for deploying targeted epidemic preparedness for the subsequent COVID-19 variant and future epidemics.

Background: Inequality in health is a prevalent and growing concern among countries where people with disabilities are disproportionately affected. Unmet healthcare needs explain a large part of the observed inequalities between and within countries; however, there are other causes, many non-modifiable, that also play a role.Aim: This article explores the difference in health across income levels in populations with spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI is of special interest in the study of health systems, as it is an irreversible, long-term health condition that combines a high level of impairment with subsequent comorbidities. Methods: We analyzed the importance of modifiable and non-modifiable factors related to inequalities through a direct regression approach to decomposing socioeconomic health inequality. We used two health outcomes: years after injury and a comorbidity index. Data come from the International Spinal Cord Injury Survey (InSCI), which include 22 countries around the world. Results: The results show that for the years after injury, the differences are mainly explained by the age of the injury of the participants (non-modifiable factor). However, for the comorbidities, modifiable factors as unmet healthcare needs and cause of the injury explain most inequalities observed. Results vary by country exhibiting a prevalence of pro-rich inequalities which means better health outcomes are observed in high-income groups.Conclusions: The probability to suffer and injury or accident, and the provisions of health services are not equally between and within countries, and even in high-income countries, the presence of inequality is still a problem, especially in vulnerable populations like people with SCI. To reduce inequity, it is important not only to address problems from public health but from inequalities of opportunities, risks and income in the population.