Title
Delayed Interventions, Low Compliance, and Health Disparities Amplified the Early Spread of COVID-19
School/Department
School of Science Technology and Health
Publication Date
7-31-2020
Abstract
The United States (US) public health interventions were rigorous and rapid, yet failed to arrest the spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as infections spread throughout the US. Many factors have contributed to the spread of COVID-19, and the success of public health interventions depends on the level of community adherence to preventative measures. Public health professionals must also understand regional demographic variation in health disparities and determinants to target interventions more effectively. In this study, a systematic evaluation of three significant interventions employed in the US, and their effectiveness in slowing the early spread of COVID-19 was conducted. Next, community-level compliance with a state-level stay at home orders was assessed to determine COVID-19 spread behavior. Finally, health disparities that may have contributed to the disproportionate acceleration of early COVID-19 spread between certain counties were characterized. The contribution of these factors for the disproportionate spread of the disease was analyzed using both univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. Results of this investigation show that delayed implementation of public health interventions, a low level of compliance with the stay at home orders, in conjunction with health disparities, significantly contributed to the early spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
COVID-19 (Disease); Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; Communicable diseases--Transmission; Health Disparities
DOI of Published Version
10.1101/2020.07.31.20165654
Rights
the authors
Recommended Citation
Jalali, Aliea M.; Khoury, Sumaia G.; See, JongWon; Gulsvig, Alexis M.; Peterson, Brent M.; Gunasekera, Richard S.; Buzi, Gentian; Wilson, Jason; and Galbadage, Thushara, "Delayed Interventions, Low Compliance, and Health Disparities Amplified the Early Spread of COVID-19" (2020). Faculty Articles & Research. 422.
https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/faculty-articles/422
Included in
Immune System Diseases Commons, Infectious Disease Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Virus Diseases Commons, Viruses Commons
Comments
This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article submitted/accepted for publication in Frontiers in Public Health following peer review. The original paper was submitted for publication in 2020.