Department of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Organization and Management, Silesian University of Technology, Roosevelta 26-28, 41-800 Zabrze, Poland.
Sewage and Water Supply Ltd., Pod Lasem 62, 44-210 Rybnik, Poland.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 3;20(3):2719. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032719.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected many world regions' societies and economies. The pandemic and the restrictions introduced in response to it have impacted social behaviour and the operation of businesses in various ways. The present study aimed to verify the impact of information on the COVID-19 outbreak in Poland on the frequency with which residents of Rybnik and the surrounding areas chose to stay in their houses or apartments, as well as the functioning of businesses. The originality of the study lies in the use of mediation modelling, in which the following were used as variables describing the epidemic in Poland: new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Poland; the number of deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection in Poland; and the number of people quarantined due to the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland. On the other hand, data on tap water consumption were used as variables describing the frequency with which residents of Rybnik and the surrounding areas chose to stay in their houses or apartments, the operation of businesses in and around the city, and the operation of government and local government institutions. The study's conclusions confirm that publicly available information about the COVID-19 outbreak in Poland affected the frequency of residents of Rybnik and the surrounding areas staying in their houses or apartments as well as the functioning of businesses in Rybnik and the surrounding areas. The increasing number of people who died due to SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with the limited functioning of government and local government institutions in and around Rybnik, which contributed to restrictions on the functioning of service industry companies in the city and surrounding areas.
COVID-19 大流行严重影响了许多世界地区的社会和经济。大流行及其带来的限制以各种方式影响了社会行为和企业的运作。本研究旨在验证波兰 COVID-19 疫情信息对居民选择留在房屋或公寓中的频率以及企业运营的影响。该研究的新颖之处在于使用中介模型，其中使用以下变量来描述波兰的疫情：波兰新的 SARS-CoV-2 感染病例；波兰因 SARS-CoV-2 感染而死亡的人数；波兰因 COVID-19 疫情而被隔离的人数。另一方面，自来水消费数据被用作描述 Rybnik 及其周边地区居民选择留在房屋或公寓中的频率、城市及其周边地区企业运营以及政府和地方政府机构运营的变量。该研究的结论证实，波兰 COVID-19 疫情的公开信息影响了 Rybnik 及其周边地区居民留在房屋或公寓中的频率以及 Rybnik 及其周边地区企业的运营。因 SARS-CoV-2 感染而死亡的人数增加与 Rybnik 及其周边地区政府和地方政府机构的有限运作有关，这导致城市及其周边地区服务行业公司的运营受到限制。
