The authors present procedures and protective measures regarding the COVID-19 pandemic applicable in the Polish Sejm. Activities in this scope are carried out on the basis of ‘Guidelines for the functioning of state offices and institutions during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Poland’. The general rules include maintaining spatial distance, covering the mouth and nose, and the obligation to disinfect hands at the entrance to the building. Members can attend the plenary sitting in the Sejm building (in the plenary hall and in designated rooms) as well as remotely.
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The parliamentary elections in Croatia were ordered for 5 July 2020. However, as the election date approached, the number of coronavirus infections increased, prompting the authority responsible for overseeing the conduct of the elections, i.e., the State Election Commission of the Republic of Croatia, to issue appropriate voting guidelines. People in self-isolation had the opportunity to vote only if the registration activities were completed by 2 July 2020, as this guaranteed a visit from a member of the election commission to whom they could pass the vote, but completely excluded infected persons from the vote. On 1 July 2020, one of the Croatian non-governmental organizations, the GONG, submitted a request to the Constitutional Court (supported by the signatures of several dozen citizens) to examine the legality of the elections, arguing that the state authorities are obliged to give each voter the possibility to vote in the elections. The Constitutional Court stated that the state authorities are obliged to create the legal possibility of exercising the right to vote guaranteed by the constitution for all citizens who express such wish, including those who have been diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID 19) or any other infectious disease, and who, for this reason, remain in isolation.
Since December, the COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting many people. Today we live in a different reality. However, despite the lethal threat, we still need to help patients with various medical problems. Often people with dry eye syndrome visit the ophthalmology’ consulting room. It’s usually not a serious complication, but it can severely hinder patients' lives and, in exceptional cases, ruin their vision. The article will present the symptoms of dry eye syndrome, causes and effective treatments. There are also discussed: the problem of COVID-19 as a disease entity, ocular symptoms whom may cause and the incidence of eye symptoms among people with this disease. In addition it will be described the connection between coronavirus and dry eye syndrome.
PL
Od grudnia pandemia COVID-19 dotyka wiele osób. Dzisiaj żyjemy w innej rzeczywistości. Jednak mimo śmiertelnego zagrożenia dalej musimy nieść pomoc pacjentom z rozmaitymi problemami medycznymi. Często do gabinetu okulistycznego trafiają osoby z zespołem suchego oka. Zwykle nie jest to poważna komplikacja, jednak może dotkliwie utrudniać życie pacjentów, a w wyjątkowych sytuacjach zrujnować ich widzenie. W pracy zostaną przedstawione objawy zespołu suchego oka, jego przyczyny, a także skuteczne metody leczenia. Omówiono również problem COVID-19 jako jednostki chorobowej, objawy oczne, które może powodować, oraz częstość występowania objawów okulistycznych u osób z tą chorobą. Ponadto opisany został związek między koronawirusem a zespołem suchego oka.
The author replies to the questionnaire devoted to the involvement of the Sejm in a recovery plan for Europe after the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the preparation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), which should constitute an annex to the National Reform Program. The author points to the issues of consulting EU documents on these plans, both at the parliamentary and governmental levels. In the latter case, she also presents the work schedule on the RRP and information on the activities of working groups at the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy on the submitted projects.
Sponsors of the petition called upon “the Town Council of Z. to consider the petition and to urgently adopt a resolution” with the content indicated therein. The Town Council considered itself not competent to consider the petition and forwarded it to the Sejm. When assessing the competence of the Sejm to consider the petition, it was pointed out that its formal addressee, i.e. the Town Council of Z., should be distinguished from the entity competent to consider the petition. Moreover, it was pointed out that the petition demanded the expression of the position on the policy directions of the Council of Ministers on vaccination against COVID-19, and the members of the Council of Ministers bear political responsibility before the Sejm. Therefore, it was considered that the subject of this petition falls within the tasks and competences of the Sejm.
In the author’s opinion, the Sejm is not an entity performing public tasks, in particular carrying out tasks related to preventing, counteracting and combating COVID-19. The Deputies are not “units providing security and public order”, such as police, Border Guard or special forces. Consequently, their children do not have the right to attend kindergartens during the restrictions in force regarding the functioning of kindergartens caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authors present information on holding presidential elections in Poland in 2020 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. They indicate, among other things, what anti-epidemic measures were taken to ensure the protection of life and health of voters, members of election commissions and other participants in the election process. Moreover, they present issues on how to ensure voting for voters under compulsory quarantine or mandatory isolation and indicate voting rules adopted specifically in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and legislative changes made, including amendment to the Electoral Code.
The opinion presents legal grounds regarding the application of quarantine and liability for damages of the State Treasury. Simultaneously, the conditions required for the State Treasury to be liable for damages in a specific case of quarantine were indicated and discussed. In addition, the opinion highlights the possibility of pursuing claims for infringement of moral rights if the quarantine is unlawfully applied (e.g. by a wrong authority or in the absence of legal grounds for its application to a specific person).
The purpose of the proposed decision is to raise the limit of the annual own resources in relation to the national income (GNI) of the EU Member States and to empower the Commission to borrow up to EUR 750 billion at 2018 prices on the capital markets on behalf of the EU. These borrowed funds would be dedicated solely to combating the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the authors of the opinion, the proposal is valid and rational from the perspective of protection and development of the internal market as an important Community element and does not raise doubts as to its compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. Its compatibility with Article 310 TFEU may however be disputed.
The article presents the approach of the Swedish authorities and the community to the problem of coronavirus threat. It shows the specific nature of the activities of government and local institutions, different from that adopted in other EU countries, and resulting from the political system of Sweden, the government's prerogatives, and the high autonomy of local authorities.
Theoretical background: The global SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic is affecting everyone, either directly or indirectly. To mitigate the negative economic outcome of the restrictions introduced in order to limit the spread of the virus, the majority of countries have introduced a number of solutions enabling enterprises to survive and maintain employment. Poland has also implemented a whole range of instruments aimed at supporting enterprises and people who have lost their livelihood.Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to review selected support instruments for enterprises from the SME group and to determine the degree of their use. Research was carried out to verify the hypothesis that these instruments played a significant role in the survival of enterprises, however, their lump sum nature meant that the aid was not adequate to the needs at a micro-economic level.Research methods: Six instruments were subjected to evaluation, i.e. the standstill benefit, exemption from the Social Insurance Institution fees, low-interest loans from the Labour Fund for micro-enterprises, partial financing of business and partial financing of salary costs, as well as a financial subsidy used by 157 SMEs up to November 30, 2020. During the first step, an analysis was conducted regarding the number of instruments that were used by enterprises, in particular, subgroups. In the second step, using a correlation analysis, the amount of aid obtained in 2020 from 6 analyzed instruments under the shields launched in the first half of the year, used by entrepreneurs by the end of 2020, was compared with the revenues and pre-tax results of enterprises from a given sample.Main findings: State aid was necessary to maintain jobs and satisfactory financial conditions of companies. However, the aid introduced in the first months of the pandemic did not match the real needs of enterprises. The conditions of availability regarding individual instruments made it possible to use them by entities that did not, in reality, require state aid. Nonetheless, from the fall of 2020 (during subsequent waves of the pandemic), the aid was targeted at specific industries, and its use required more stringent conditions to be met.
The aim of the article is to analyze fake news related to coronavirus and assign selected examples to the categories of fake news presented in the literature. Various types of fake news disseminated in the Internet in Polish language were analyzed. The study is preceded by a discussion on the origin, specificity, types, and available classifications of fake news obtained from the available literature. On the basis of the analysis, it can be concluded that many fake news items appeared in the media discussion on the threat of coronavirus, differing in terms of sources, form, and content. Their diversity is reflected in the numerousness of fake news categories, distinguished by the creators of the classifications of this phenomenon.
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The Parliament of Singapore of the 13th parliamentary term was dissolved on 23 June 2020. Despite the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic, this meant, in accordance with Article 66 of the 1965 Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, that the parliamentary elections had to be held. However, the legislator has established special rules for the election procedure in connection with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A special statutory regulation was adopted on 4 May 2020. Among other things, solutions have been introduced to give people isolated due to the coronavirus the opportunity to vote by organizing elections in places of mass isolation, such as hotels or student dormitories. The solutions provided for in this regulation have been the subject of a court complaint filed by Daniel De Costa Augustin, a Singapore citizen. In the complaint it was argued that the precautionary measures needed to protect public health at the present time have the effect of depriving voters of the right to free and fair elections. In the judgement, the Court of Appeal found that the applicant had failed to show that the adopted solutions violated the right to vote. In particular, it pointed out that health issues are not related to the right to vote and should be dealt with separately as a public health issue, which was not the subject of any action brought before the Court of Appeal.
Study aim: Wrestling involves a high risk of transmission in terms of Covid-19 as it is performed using close one-to-one physical contact. This field research study examined wrestlers' approach to and awareness levels of the pandemic. Method: The study sample consists of 214 male wrestlers aged 19.15 ± 1.78 years who participated in the U-23 Turkish National Freestyle Wrestling Championship. The data was collected using a personal information form and the Pandemic Awareness Scale. The statistical analysis consisted of an independent sample t-test, descriptive statistics, and a One-Way ANOVA test for multi-group comparison. Results: Non-smokers and the wrestlers who complied with the precautions had statistically higher awareness score averages (p < 0.05). A statistically significant relationship between awareness scores and variables, including education level, being a national athlete, being diagnosed with Covid-19, losing a first-degree relative to Covid-19, having been vaccinated, and the number of vaccine doses (p > 0.05) was not found. Conclusion: The study findings indicate that the level of awareness of the pandemic is high among non-smokers and wrestlers who complied with the necessary precautions.
The coronavirus pandemic that hit the world in early 2020 has weakened Europe very severely. In the first period (January-February), the disease was often neglected, which allowed it to spread rapidly. In March, panic struck European societies, the health systems of many countries collapsed, and governments introduced drastic restrictions on civil liberties and on the functioning of the economy. The European Union, which was helpless in the first period, took steps in the spring to restore the European economy after the end of the epidemic.
In recent months, the COVID-19 virus has become a key challenge for all countries, regardless of their geographical location, economic situation or system of government. As stated by Grzegorz Rydlewski, the crisis has become a condition for balancing and targeting the activities of supranational structures, states, various intermediate structures, and individual people (Rydlewski, 2020). The main aim of the present article is to discuss the trends and changes to public decision-making processes introduced by the lawmaker in connection with the epidemic threat to local government administration. Unquestionably, one of the negative effects of the pandemic is the fact that holding meetings of local government bodies in physical form has been unsafe since the outbreak. Legal and technical solutions have been introduced which partly transfer the decision-making process to the digital world by allowing remote meetings for a wide range of statutory bodies. In this context, it is important to examine the usefulness, practicality and efficiency of the solutions adopted, and also to identify key obstacles and challenges to local government decision-making processes. Additionally, examples of ICT tools supporting decision making in local government units will be duly provided. Finally, key problems identified in the course of the analysis in question, e.g., issues related to the area of cyber security, will be also highlighted.
The current article is an attempt by the authors to present a bioethical case, or rather a search being undertaken to develop tools to interpret the novel ontological realm which has been created, and continues to be transformed in real time, by the COVID19 pandemic and its aftermath. The ontological realm is new, but the physical features of the world and the human in it are partially constants and identical to the previous realm parameters, the pre-COVID19 space-time. The question of existence in the new ontological realm is...how can the continuum of Homo sapiens and its existence be sustained in this new realm? The tools being developed use of previous information and knowledge of the members of Homo sapiens as a starting point and source of metaphors as tools to facilitate existence in the new realm. In this way, existing knowledge, which is held by individual members of Homo sapiens, and which exists and continues being created in the continuum of Homo sapiens, can be the foundation for the creation of new knowledge about the post-COVID19 realm and the individual and collective comprehension of humans of it and in it. Conceptual metaphors, the creation of compound metaphor and the prospective dialectic are suggested by authors as a possible epistemic implementation mechanisms in this context. The adaptation of humanity, its imagination and some professions are used to demonstrate the case for the ‘new science of human existence’ in the post-COVID19 world.
The aim of the paper is to present and discuss the portrayal of the COVID-19 pandemic in the media. Our primary focus is on Polish press articles, supplemented by occasional references to international sources. The analysis reveals that, much like in previous pandemics, the media narrative around COVID-19 is heavily metaphorical, aiming to simplify the understanding of this unfamiliar event. The most common metaphors involve war and battle, which have sparked controversy and significant criticism for their militaristic connotations. Our paper also examines alternative representations of the pandemic, such as natural disasters (with the fire metaphor being particularly apt), sports (including football, mountain climbing, and marathons), and other innovative comparisons (comparing the pandemic to an animal, driving a car, etc.).
The fight against the Coronavirus continues around the world. The pandemic affects individuals and families and social groups, states, and economies. Like any other economy in the world, Australia’s economy has to deal with the effects of a pandemic. Australia has chosen its own way of fighting the disease and its consequences. It was not possible to avoid an economic recession, but at the same time, political decisions, aid provided, and social behaviour can be assessed as very effective.
The purpose of this paper is to perform a brief cognitive analysis of speech events containing information about the coronavirus SARS-COV 2 and the disease its causes, COVID-19. As the author acknowledges primacy of cognitive linguistics research tools towards explanation of how language is used and how the extralinguistic reality is perceived, the object of research comprises M Johnson and G. Lakoff’s conceptual metaphors, which are to be extracted among seven chosen articles derived from the digital version of the Italian journal La Stampa. The results of such performed research should deliver a list of structural, ontological and orientative metaphors, which, in this context, are not just pure eristic speech figures but mental constructs which indicate people’s way of reasoning and of conceptualizing the surrounding extralinguistic world, in this case the pandemic situation affecting us all.
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