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This chapter aims to provide suggestive evidence on how the Lombardy region dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and discuss future challenges for the Lombardy healthcare system. After an introduction to the wide spread of the virus inside the region, we describe the Lombardy health system so the reader may understand the context in which the virus has taken hold so quickly. The pandemic has heavily stressed the system, mainly because Lombardy experienced an excess of hospital admissions. We have considered the increased mortality rate as a proxy of the proper managing of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we describe the process of treating non-COVID patients, such as those affected by acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke and oncological diseases. Despite the pandemic, hospitals have been able to guarantee a high level of performance. A discussion of the future evolution of the healthcare system concludes this chapter.

On 24 January 2020, France informed WHO of three cases of novel coronavirus, all of whom had travelled from Wuhan, China. These three cases were the first confirmed cases in Europe. By 13 March 2020, Europe had become the epicentre of the pandemic with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from the People’s Republic of China. Many European countries like Italy, France and Germany took drastic actions and subsequently announced a lockdown, while other countries like the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden were much more hesitant to introduce such far-reaching safety measures. This chapter provides a literature overview of how the variation in such measures in Europe has ultimately resulted in changes in daily activities and travel behaviour during the pandemic. It focusses on five main themes: (i) reduction in mobility and activities, (ii) spatial-temporal adjustments in out-of-home activities in which people still participated, (iii) modal adjustments especially among people who used to travel by public transport before the pandemic, (iv) new out-of-home activities including new outdoor activities and (v) digital adaptations as several out-of-home activities were replaced by digital activities, with special attention to the experience of teleworking.

Innovation thrives during crises. Covid-19 gives one such opportunity to the pharmaceutical industry. Product innovation gives an opportunity to beat the pandemic. However, process innovation using the concept of co-opetition can help the pharmaceutical industry create a win–win for the market and the industry. This chapter covers co-opetition strategies that pharmaceutical sector can follow to help the customers and marketers win this game. The chapter looks at various co-operation-based strategies including co-operation by division of markets, co-operation by sharing of distribution, co-operation through patent waivers and co-operation with complementary goods manufacturers. After the co-operation, comes competition. The chapter considers duopoly as a means to help divide the market for all to co-exist.

In Sri Lanka women make up the majority of the country's population. However, there is a concern that many women are subjected to any form of violence at home which is known as family violence, or in Sri Lanka which is identified as domestic violence. As such domestic violence is one of the topics that have gained attention in Sri Lanka under the major topic of gender-based violence (GBV). Sri Lanka also imposed prolonged lockdowns, travel/mobility restrictions, social distancing, and other health measures/restrictions to control the speedy spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, the life of women was unfavorably impacted. A increase in the number of domestic violence cases against women during public emergencies – here referred to COVID-19 – is one of such negative impacts. Therefore, this study intends to examine the adequacy of the existing laws of prevention of domestic violence in Sri Lanka and investigate the appropriateness of the available judicial mechanism including its preparedness in achieving the proper protection support for the women victims of domestic violence during public emergencies. To reach that goal this doctrinal research study heavily engages in a descriptive and detailed analysis of legal rules found in primary sources such as domestic statutes, international treaties, statistics, government circulars and regulations and case law, etc., in respect of the issue of domestic violence against women during public emergencies with specific reference to Sri Lanka. Secondary resources such as print and electronic text material are also utilized in the completion of this study.

This chapter attempts to assess the impact that the current Covid-19 pandemic can exert on the globalization process. The pandemic crisis, which fully unfolded worldwide in March 2020, had dramatic consequences for the world population, some of which are of economic character. As some of the global value chains and international trade and investment relationships were destabilized or suspended, a legitimate question arises as to the possible progress of the globalization process. The authors commence with a multidimensional concept of globalization and its critical evaluation. Subsequently, three possible scenarios of pandemic-induced development are identified and explored: disrupted globalization, de-globalization, and finally rebalanced globalization. The discussion of these scenarios also includes implications for economic policy.

This study looked at how Vietnam, a developing country, in South East Asia has systemically dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic on a national level with remarkable success. This study delved into the approaches taken by Vietnam in pre-mediating the influx of COVID-19 from interlopers into the country and controlling its spread within the confines of the nation. This study examined the steps taken by Vietnam. The quick actions of the government have instilled confidence in their citizens and promoted greater internal travel mobility within the Vietnam, thus helping the local tourism industry to remain vibrant and competitive. Unlike other countries, which have been severely affected by the COVID-19 virus, Vietnam is poised for a head start in its recovery.

The impact of COVID-19 has been sector-specific as per relaxations allowed under different lockdown announcements by the Indian Government. Sectors with high potential threats of spreading COVID-19 cases have been allowed restricted operations. Depending on the degree of operationalization as per government orders, employment prospects have widened after the complete lockdown period has elapsed. The Government of Himachal Pradesh had rolled out the skill register (https://skillregister.hp.gov.in/) to capture the impact of COVID-19 in the month of July 2020. There are around 16,243 people who have registered themselves on this portal till February 2021 and have shown interest in employment opportunities. To understand the current employment situations among the respondents and job needs, a skill study was conducted from November 2020 to February 2021. Seventy-five percent of these registrations are from four districts of Himachal Pradesh namely Kangra, Hamirpur, Mandi, and Una. Data was collected from 550 respondents by using the simple random sampling method. The study highlights that around 56% of respondents registered in the skill portal had lost jobs due to COVID-19 lockdown.

Respondents shared that the skill mission of Himachal Pradesh made substantial efforts and around 47% of the respondents were connected to the various opportunities available in industries within Himachal Pradesh. Out of these, relevant industrial units had contacted around 13% of respondents and only one respondent out of 550 respondents had joined the job. Low salary, lack of jobs in the preferred area, the mismatch between required qualifications and experiences, risk of transmission of COVID-19, etc., remained as major reasons for the refusal of jobs by the respondents. The result highlights that the parameters like relevant experiences, pre COVID -19 salary, education level, technical skills, urgency of job are some of the potential factors which are considered by the respondents to return to the industry.

This case discusses Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam’s (BIBD) social responsibility initiative. Social marketers are committed to people’s health and well-being; they are not profit-oriented and are seeking a larger market share than commercial marketers. One such example is “Community for Brunei” the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by BIBD. It is an online marketplace designed to help small businesses, highlighting different social and philanthropic causes that are important to Bruneians’ nurturing identity. BIBD assists the country’s small, medium, and micro entrepreneurs to actively and competitively expand their businesses through the Brunei community. It aims to help ease and transform the marketplace for struggling entrepreneurs during the pandemic. The Brunei Community Platform uses technology to bring communities together and provide an online ecosystem with integrated digital payment gateways as part of their efforts to encourage a digital society driven by a cashless economy. Other than a digital marketplace, the Community for Brunei has evolved into a social charitable platform conducting charity drives in collaboration with other non-government organizations as well as a donation platform enabling the community to donate and give back to the nation in difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of BIBD’s overall commitment to maintain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, events related to Community for Brunei also guards urban areas to ensure its safety, resilience and sustainability. BIBD’s CSR projects also promotes sustainability in consumption and clean production patterns, and takes urgent action by responding to climate change and its impact. The key takeaways of BIBD’s digital platform Community for Brunei is not only to accept but to fully embrace digitization of today’s businesses to not only continue thriving in this very restricted and scarcely resourced environment but to also open up opportunities to enter their goods and services into the global market. It has also become a community-driven and socially responsible platform providing a place for the society to give back to the community.

Natural disasters and other crises present methodological challenges to organizational researchers. While these challenges are well canvassed in the literature, less attention has been paid to understanding how distinct crisis events may present, not only unique challenges, but also important opportunities for research. In this chapter, we draw on our collective experience of conducting post-earthquake research and compare this with the COVID-19 pandemic context in order to identify and discuss the inherent vulnerabilities associated with disaster studies and the subsequent methodological challenges and opportunities that researchers might encounter. Adopting a critical perspective, the chapter grapples with some of the more contentious issues associated with research in a disaster and crisis context including aspects of stakeholder engagement, ethics, reciprocity, inequality, and vulnerability.