The pandemic spread rapidly across Italy, putting the region’s health system on the brink of collapse, and generating concern regarding the government’s capacity to respond to the needs of patients considering isolation measures. This study developed a sentiment analysis using millions of Twitter data during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 10 metropolitan cities in Italy’s (1) north: Milan, Venice, Turin, Bologna; (2) central: Florence, Rome; (3) south: Naples, Bari; and (4) islands: Palermo, Cagliari. Questions addressed are as follows: (1) How did tweet-related sentiments change over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) How did sentiments change when lagged with policy shifts and/or specific events? Findings show an assortment of differences and connections across Twitter sentiments (fear, anger, and joy) based on policy measures and geographies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results can be used by policy makers to quantify the satisfactory level of positive/negative acceptance of decision makers and identify important topics related to COVID-19 policy measures, which can be useful for imposing geographically varying lockdowns and protective measures using historical data.

The vast majority of ocean plastics originate from land and are transported over long distances to their final sink. Yet, our current understanding of transfer mechanisms through rivers and estuaries remains poor due to a lack of consistent methods for assessing and monitoring plastic waste. In this study, we quantify and characterize the abundance of plastics in the Tijuana River estuary, located along the U.S.–Mexico border. We found a total of 2804 plastic debris items, of which 79.3% were sampled during heavy rainfalls and 20.7% during the dry period. Overall, most plastics were attributed to five economic sectors: packaging, food, construction, fishing, and tourism, highlighting losses during the use and waste management phases of the plastic’s value chain. Based on the results of the analysis, consistent monitoring of plastic pollution is recommended for managing variable plastic loads.

This study employs a survey to investigate the societal response to COVID-19 in Italy. Data were collected via snowball sampling during the period April 2020 to April 2021 using the ArcGIS Survey 123 survey instrument. The study collected and analyzed 64 responses to investigate various aspects related to COVID-19. The areas covered in the analysis include socioeconomics, changing symptoms, relocation, physical distancing, health, social behaviors (past and future), personal attitudes, perceptions of government/public response and efficacy, beliefs, travel habits, well-being, current event worries, pandemic challenges, depression, vaccine, public opinion, personality, public health measures, social media preference, and contact with others. The study’s results provide a snapshot of how people across Italy experienced the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and can help public health organizations, decision-makers, and the general public address policies related to symptoms, social distance, policy measures/regulations, and social behaviors during the different policy phases and wave measures related to COVID-19 effects.