scholarly journals Creating COVID-19 Stigma by Referencing the Novel Coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” on Twitter: Quantitative Analysis of Social Media Data (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henna Budhwani ◽  
Ruoyan Sun
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Structural Force ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Derivatives Of

BACKGROUND Stigma is the deleterious, structural force that devalues members of groups that hold undesirable characteristics. Since stigma is created and reinforced by society—through in-person and online social interactions—referencing the novel coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” or “China virus” has the potential to create and perpetuate stigma. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess if there was an increase in the prevalence and frequency of the phrases “Chinese virus” and “China virus” on Twitter after the March 16, 2020, US presidential reference of this term. METHODS Using the Sysomos software (Sysomos, Inc), we extracted tweets from the United States using a list of keywords that were derivatives of “Chinese virus.” We compared tweets at the national and state levels posted between March 9 and March 15 (preperiod) with those posted between March 19 and March 25 (postperiod). We used Stata 16 (StataCorp) for quantitative analysis, and Python (Python Software Foundation) to plot a state-level heat map. RESULTS A total of 16,535 “Chinese virus” or “China virus” tweets were identified in the preperiod, and 177,327 tweets were identified in the postperiod, illustrating a nearly ten-fold increase at the national level. All 50 states witnessed an increase in the number of tweets exclusively mentioning “Chinese virus” or “China virus” instead of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or coronavirus. On average, 0.38 tweets referencing “Chinese virus” or “China virus” were posted per 10,000 people at the state level in the preperiod, and 4.08 of these stigmatizing tweets were posted in the postperiod, also indicating a ten-fold increase. The 5 states with the highest number of postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Pennsylvania (n=5249), New York (n=11,754), Florida (n=13,070), Texas (n=14,861), and California (n=19,442). Adjusting for population size, the 5 states with the highest prevalence of postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Arizona (5.85), New York (6.04), Florida (6.09), Nevada (7.72), and Wyoming (8.76). The 5 states with the largest increase in pre- to postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Kansas (n=697/58, 1202%), South Dakota (n=185/15, 1233%), Mississippi (n=749/54, 1387%), New Hampshire (n=582/41, 1420%), and Idaho (n=670/46, 1457%). CONCLUSIONS The rise in tweets referencing “Chinese virus” or “China virus,” along with the content of these tweets, indicate that knowledge translation may be occurring online and COVID-19 stigma is likely being perpetuated on Twitter.

scholarly journals Creating COVID-19 Stigma by Referencing the Novel Coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” on Twitter: Quantitative Analysis of Social Media Data

10.2196/19301 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. e19301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henna Budhwani ◽  
Ruoyan Sun
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Structural Force ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Derivatives Of

Background Stigma is the deleterious, structural force that devalues members of groups that hold undesirable characteristics. Since stigma is created and reinforced by society—through in-person and online social interactions—referencing the novel coronavirus as the “Chinese virus” or “China virus” has the potential to create and perpetuate stigma. Objective The aim of this study was to assess if there was an increase in the prevalence and frequency of the phrases “Chinese virus” and “China virus” on Twitter after the March 16, 2020, US presidential reference of this term. Methods Using the Sysomos software (Sysomos, Inc), we extracted tweets from the United States using a list of keywords that were derivatives of “Chinese virus.” We compared tweets at the national and state levels posted between March 9 and March 15 (preperiod) with those posted between March 19 and March 25 (postperiod). We used Stata 16 (StataCorp) for quantitative analysis, and Python (Python Software Foundation) to plot a state-level heat map. Results A total of 16,535 “Chinese virus” or “China virus” tweets were identified in the preperiod, and 177,327 tweets were identified in the postperiod, illustrating a nearly ten-fold increase at the national level. All 50 states witnessed an increase in the number of tweets exclusively mentioning “Chinese virus” or “China virus” instead of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or coronavirus. On average, 0.38 tweets referencing “Chinese virus” or “China virus” were posted per 10,000 people at the state level in the preperiod, and 4.08 of these stigmatizing tweets were posted in the postperiod, also indicating a ten-fold increase. The 5 states with the highest number of postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Pennsylvania (n=5249), New York (n=11,754), Florida (n=13,070), Texas (n=14,861), and California (n=19,442). Adjusting for population size, the 5 states with the highest prevalence of postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Arizona (5.85), New York (6.04), Florida (6.09), Nevada (7.72), and Wyoming (8.76). The 5 states with the largest increase in pre- to postperiod “Chinese virus” tweets were Kansas (n=697/58, 1202%), South Dakota (n=185/15, 1233%), Mississippi (n=749/54, 1387%), New Hampshire (n=582/41, 1420%), and Idaho (n=670/46, 1457%). Conclusions The rise in tweets referencing “Chinese virus” or “China virus,” along with the content of these tweets, indicate that knowledge translation may be occurring online and COVID-19 stigma is likely being perpetuated on Twitter.

scholarly journals Political Ideology and the Outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

At the state level within the United States, did political ideology predict the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)? Throughout March 2020, the United States became the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, recording the most cases of any country worldwide. The current research found that, at the state level within the United States, more conservative political ideology predicted delayed implementation of stay-at-home orders and more rapid spread of COVID-19. Effects were significant across two distinct operationalizations of political ideology and held over and above relevant covariates, suggesting a potentially unique role of political ideology in the United States’ COVID-19 outbreak. Considering political ideological factors may offer valuable insights into epidemiological processes surrounding COVID-19.

scholarly journals Pandemic Politics: Timing State-Level Social Distancing Responses to COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Adolph ◽  
Kenya Amano ◽  
Bree Bang-Jensen ◽  
Nancy Fullman ◽  
John Wilkerson
Keyword(s):  
Event History Analysis ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Political Partisanship ◽  
History Analysis ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

AbstractSocial distancing policies are critical but economically painful measures to flatten the curve against emergent infectious diseases. As the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 spread throughout the United States in early 2020, the federal government issued social distancing recommendations but left to the states the most difficult and consequential decisions restricting behavior, such as canceling events, closing schools and businesses, and issuing stay-at-home orders. We present an original dataset of state-level social distancing policy responses to the epidemic and explore how political partisanship, COVID-19 caseload, and policy diffusion explain the timing of governors’ decisions to mandate social distancing. An event history analysis of five social distancing policies across all fifty states reveals the most important predictors are political: all else equal, Republican governors and governors from states with more Trump supporters were slower to adopt social distancing policies. These delays are likely to produce significant, on-going harm to public health.

scholarly journals The initial experience and response of vascular surgeons in Michigan during the COVID-19 pandemic

Vascular ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 170853812098663
Author(s):  
Nicolas J Mouawad ◽  
Judith C Lin ◽  
Dawn M Coleman ◽  
Justin Simmons ◽  
Loay S Kabbani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Initial Experience ◽  
Delivery Of Healthcare ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Surrounding Areas

Background/Objective The unprecedented pandemic spread of the novel coronavirus has severely impacted the delivery of healthcare services in the United States and around the world, and has exposed a variety of inefficiencies in healthcare infrastructure. Some states have been disproportionately affected such as New York and Michigan. In fact, Detroit and its surrounding areas have been named as the initial Midwest epicenter where over 106,000 cases have been confirmed in April 2020. Method, Results and Conclusions: Facilities in Southeast Michigan have served as the frontline of the pandemic in the Midwest and in order to cope with the surge, rapid, and in some cases, complete restructuring of care was mandatory to effect change and attempt to deal with the emerging crisis. We describe the initial experience and response of 4 large vascular surgery health systems in Michigan to COVID-19.

scholarly journals More Active Internet-Search on Google and Twitter Posting for COVID-19 Corresponds with Lower Infection Rate in the 50 U.S. States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiachen Sun ◽  
Peter Gloor
Keyword(s):  
Infection Rate ◽  
Predictive Accuracy ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Lower Infection ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Lower Infection Rate

Abstract As the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to rage worldwide, the United States has become the most affected country with more than 2.5 million total confirmed cases up to now (June 2, 2020). In this work, we investigate the predictive power of online social media and Internet search for the COVID-19 pandemic among 50 U.S. states. By collecting the state-level daily trends through both Twitter and Google Trends, we observe a high but state-different lag correlation with the number of daily confirmed cases. We further find that the predictive accuracy measured by the correlation coefficient is positively correlated to a state’s demographic, air traffic volume and GDP development. Most importantly, we show that a state’s early infection rate is negatively correlated with the lag to the previous peak in Internet search and tweeting about COVID-19, indicating that the earlier the collective awareness on Twitter/Google in a state, the lower is the infection rate.

scholarly journals Cardiac workup and monitoring in hospitalised children with COVID- 19

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 907-910
Author(s):  
Michael A. Fremed ◽  
Irene D. Lytrivi ◽  
Leonardo Liberman ◽  
Brett R. Anderson ◽  
Oliver M. Barry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Congenital Heart ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

AbstractApproximately, 1.7 million individuals in the United States have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). This has disproportionately impacted adults, but many children have been infected and hospitalised as well. To date, there is not much information published addressing the cardiac workup and monitoring of children with COVID-19. Here, we share the approach to the cardiac workup and monitoring utilised at a large congenital heart centre in New York City, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

scholarly journals Improved measurement of racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 mortality in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua R. Goldstein ◽  
Serge Atherwood
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
National Level ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Estimation Methods ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Population Distributions ◽  
Racial Ethnic

AbstractDifferent estimation methods produce diverging accounts of racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 mortality in the United States. The CDC’s decision to present the racial/ethnic distribution of COVID-19 deaths at the state level alongside re-weighted racial/ethnic population distributions—in effect, a geographic adjustment—makes it seem that Whites have the highest death rates. Age adjustment procedures used by others, including the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, lead to the opposite conclusion that Blacks and Hispanics are dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than Whites. In this paper, we use indirect standardization methods to adjust per-capita death rates for both age and geography simultaneously, avoiding the one-sided adjustment procedures currently in use. Using CDC data, we find age-and-place-adjusted COVID-19 death rates are 80% higher for Blacks and more than 50% higher for Hispanics, relative to Whites, on a national level, while there is almost no disparity for Asians. State-specific estimates show wide variation in mortality disparities. Comparison with non-epidemic mortality reveals potential roles for pre-existing health disparities and differential rates of infection and care.

scholarly journals Pandemic Politics: Timing State-Level Social Distancing Responses to COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Adolph ◽  
Kenya Amano ◽  
Bree Bang-Jensen ◽  
Nancy Fullman ◽  
John Wilkerson
Keyword(s):  
Event History Analysis ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Event History ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Critical Window ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
History Analysis ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

Abstract Context: Social distancing is an essential but economically painful measure to flatten the curve of emergent infectious diseases. As the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 spread throughout the United States in early 2020, the federal government left to the states the difficult and consequential decisions about when to cancel events, close schools and businesses, and issue stay-at-home orders. Methods: We present an original, detailed dataset of state-level social distancing policy responses to the epidemic, then apply event history analysis to study the timing of implementation of five social distancing policies across all fifty states. Results: The most important predictor of when states adopted social distancing policies is political: All else equal, states led by Republican governors were slower to implement such policies during a critical window of early COVID-19 response. Conclusions: Continuing actions driven by partisanship, rather than public health expertise and scientific recommendations, may exact greater tolls on health and broader society.

Applicability of management guidelines for surfing resources in California

Shore & Beach ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
Edward Atkin ◽  
Dan Reineman ◽  
Jesse Reiblich ◽  
David Revell
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Management Guidelines ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Coastal Marine ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Legal Frameworks

Surf breaks are finite, valuable, and vulnerable natural resources, that not only influence community and cultural identities, but are a source of revenue and provide a range of health benefits. Despite these values, surf breaks largely lack recognition as coastal resources and therefore the associated management measures required to maintain them. Some countries, especially those endowed with high-quality surf breaks and where the sport of surfing is accepted as mainstream, have recognized the value of surfing resources and have specific policies for their conservation. In Aotearoa New Zealand surf breaks are included within national environmental policy. Aotearoa New Zealand has recently produced Management Guidelines for Surfing Resources (MGSR), which were developed in conjunction with universities, regional authorities, not-for-profit entities, and government agencies. The MGSR provide recommendations for both consenting authorities and those wishing to undertake activities in the coastal marine area, as well as tools and techniques to aid in the management of surfing resources. While the MGSR are firmly aligned with Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural and legal frameworks, much of their content is applicable to surf breaks worldwide. In the United States, there are several national-level and state-level statutes that are generally relevant to various aspects of surfing resources, but there is no law or policy that directly addresses them. This paper describes the MGSR, considers California’s existing governance frameworks, and examines the potential benefits of adapting and expanding the MGSR in this state.

Save Our Senior Noncitizens: Extending Old Age Assistance to Immigrants in the United States, 1935–71

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Cybelle Fox
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Old Age ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Secure Access ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Old Age Assistance ◽  
Social Security Act

Abstract When do states grant social rights to noncitizens? I explore this question by examining the extension of Old Age Assistance (OAA) to noncitizens after the passage of the 1935 Social Security Act. While the act contained no alienage-based restrictions, states were permitted to bar noncitizens from means-tested programs. In 1939, 31 states had alienage restrictions for OAA. By 1971, when the Supreme Court declared state-level alienage restrictions unconstitutional, only eight states still did. States with more Mexicans and Asians were slower to repeal restriction, however. Using in-depth case studies of New York, California, and Texas, I demonstrate the importance of federal and state institutional arrangements and immigrant political power for the extension of social rights to noncitizens. I also show that to secure access to OAA, immigrant advocates adapted their strategies to match the institutional and political context.

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