scholarly journals Changes in risk perception and protective behavior during the first week of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Wise ◽  
Tomislav Damir Zbozinek ◽  
Giorgia Michelini ◽  
Cindy C. Hagan ◽  
dean mobbs
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Behavioral Interventions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Attention ◽  
Protective Behavior ◽  
Protective Behaviors ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Us Government

By mid-March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread to over 100 countries and all 50 states in the US. Government efforts to minimize the spread of disease emphasized behavioral interventions, including raising awareness of the disease and encouraging protective behaviors such as social distancing and hand washing, and seeking medical attention if experiencing symptoms. However, it is unclear to what extent individuals are aware of the risks associated with the disease, how they are altering their behavior, factors which could influence the spread of the virus to vulnerable populations. We characterized risk perception and engagement in preventative measures in 1591 United States based individuals over the first week of the pandemic (March 11th-16th 2020) and examined the extent to which protective behaviors are predicted by individuals’ perception of risk. Over 5 days, subjects demonstrated growing awareness of the risk posed by the virus, and largely reported engaging in protective behaviors with increasing frequency. However, they underestimated their personal risk of infection relative to the average person in the country. We found that engagement in social distancing and handwashing was most strongly predicted by the perceived likelihood of personally being infected, rather than likelihood of transmission or severity of potential transmitted infections. However, substantial variability emerged among individuals, and using data-driven methods we found a subgroup of subjects who are largely disengaged, unaware, and not practicing protective behaviors. Our results have implications for our understanding of how risk perception and protective behaviors can facilitate early interventions during large-scale pandemics.

Impacts of Social Distancing on Pedestrian Behavior and Risk Perception

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 1302-1306
Author(s):  
Kyra B. Phillips ◽  
Kelly N. Byrne ◽  
Branden S. Kolarik ◽  
Audra K. Krake ◽  
Young C. Bui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Pedestrian Behavior ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Over Time

Since COVID-19 transmission accelerated in the United States in March 2020, guidelines have recommended that individuals wear masks and limit close contact by remaining at least six feet away from others, even while outdoors. Such behavior is important to help slow the spread of the global pandemic; however, it may require pedestrians to make critical decisions about entering a roadway in order to avoid others, potentially creating hazardous situations for both themselves and for drivers. In this survey study, we found that while overall patterns of self-reported pedestrian activity remained largely consistent over time, participants indicated increased willingness to enter active roadways when encountering unmasked pedestrians since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Participants also rated the risks of encountering unmasked pedestrians as greater than those associated with entering a street, though the perceived risk of passing an unmasked pedestrian on the sidewalk decreased over time.

scholarly journals Social Distancing is Effective at Mitigating COVID-19 Transmission in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamada S. Badr ◽  
Hongru Du ◽  
Max Marshall ◽  
Ensheng Dong ◽  
Marietta Squire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mobile Phone Data ◽  
Variable Intensity ◽  
Social Distancing

AbstractCOVID-19 is present in every state and over 90 percent of all counties in the United States. Decentralized government efforts to reduce spread, combined with the complex dynamics of human mobility and the variable intensity of local outbreaks makes assessing the effect of large-scale social distancing on COVID-19 transmission in the U.S.a challenge. We generate a novel metric to represent social distancing behavior derived from mobile phone data and examine its relationship with COVID-19 case reports at the county level. Our analysis reveals that social distancing is strongly correlated with decreased COVID-19 case growth rates for the 25 most affected counties in the United States, with a lag period consistent with the incubation time of SARS-CoV-2. We also demonstrate evidence that social distancing was already under way in many U.S. counties before state or local-level policies were implemented. This study strongly supports social distancing as an effective way to mitigate COVID-19 transmission in the United States.

scholarly journals Effects of Varying Approaches to Lifting COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions in the United States

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica E Galarraga ◽  
Daniel Popovsky ◽  
Kevin Delijani ◽  
Hannah Hanson ◽  
Mark Hanlon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Fold Reduction ◽  
Control And Prevention

Background Policy approaches to lifting COVID-19 restrictions have varied significantly across the United States. An evaluation of the effects of state reopening policies on population health outcomes can inform ongoing and future pandemic responses. This study evaluates the approaches to lifting social distancing restrictions based on adherence to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance established during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We performed a retrospective study using difference-in-differences analyses to examine the effects of reopening policies on COVID-19 outcomes with risk-adjustment for population density, temporal changes, and concurrent mask policy implementation. We examined the effects of reopening policies on per capita case rates and rates of severe COVID-19 outcomes, including hospitalizations and deaths. Results Adherence to CDC reopening gating metrics and phased social distancing guidelines resulted in fewer COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Phase one adherent states exhibited a 50-fold reduction in daily new cases and a 3-fold reduction in daily new deaths after reopening. Phase two adherent states experienced improvements in COVID-19 outcomes after reopening, while non-adherent states had a resurgence of worsening outcomes after lifting restrictions. Conclusions Our study findings indicate that adherence to CDC reopening guidance after implementing social distancing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic substantially prevents new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Following a stepwise reopening strategy and ensuring a sustained decline in case rates and test positivity rates before lifting restrictions can mitigate on a large scale the negative effects of a pandemic on population health outcomes.

scholarly journals State-level impact of social distancing and testing on COVID-19 in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weihsueh A. Chiu ◽  
Rebecca Fischer ◽  
Martial L. Ndeffo-Mbah
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
State Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Epidemic Curve ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Social distancing measures have been implemented in the United States (US) since March 2020, to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. However, by mid-May most states began relaxing these measures to support the resumption of economic activity, even as disease incidence continued to increase in many states. To evaluate the impact of relaxing social distancing restrictions on COVID-19 dynamics and control in the US, we developed a transmission dynamic model and calibrated it to US state-level COVID-19 cases and deaths from March to June 20th, 2020, using Bayesian methods. We used this model to evaluate the impact of reopening, social distancing, testing, contact tracing, and case isolation on the COVID-19 epidemic in each state. We found that using stay-at-home orders, most states were able to curtail their COVID-19 epidemic curve by reducing and achieving an effective reproductive number below 1. But by June 20th, 2020, only 19 states and the District of Columbia were on track to curtail their epidemic curve with a 75% confidence, at current levels of reopening. Of the remaining 31 states, 24 may have to double their current testing and/or contact tracing rate to curtail their epidemic curve, and seven need to further restrict social contact by 25% in addition to doubling their testing and contact tracing rates. When social distancing restrictions are being eased, greater state-level testing and contact tracing capacity remains paramount for mitigating the risk of large-scale increases in cases and deaths.

scholarly journals Changes in risk perception and self-reported protective behaviour during the first week of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 200742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toby Wise ◽  
Tomislav D. Zbozinek ◽  
Giorgia Michelini ◽  
Cindy C. Hagan ◽  
Dean Mobbs
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Protective Behaviour ◽  
Average Person ◽  
Changes In Risk ◽  
Protective Behaviours ◽  
Perceived Probability

Efforts to change behaviour are critical in minimizing the spread of highly transmissible pandemics such as COVID-19. However, it is unclear whether individuals are aware of disease risk and alter their behaviour early in the pandemic. We investigated risk perception and self-reported engagement in protective behaviours in 1591 United States-based individuals cross-sectionally and longitudinally over the first week of the pandemic. Subjects demonstrated growing awareness of risk and reported engaging in protective behaviours with increasing frequency but underestimated their risk of infection relative to the average person in the country. Social distancing and hand washing were most strongly predicted by the perceived probability of personally being infected. However, a subgroup of individuals perceived low risk and did not engage in these behaviours. Our results highlight the importance of risk perception in early interventions during large-scale pandemics.

scholarly journals How many COVID-19 cases could have been prevented in the US if its interventions were as effective as those in China and South Korea?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Liu ◽  
Yukun Song ◽  
Menghui Li ◽  
Zhesi Shen ◽  
Ming Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Actual Number ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World

AbstractThe COVID-19 [1] pandemic has forced governments to take measures to contain the spread of the disease [2]; however, the effects have varied significantly from one country to another contingent on governments’ responses. Countries that have flattened their coronavirus curves prove that interventions can bring COVID-19 under control. These achievements hold lessons, such as the strict social distancing and coordinated efforts of all government levels in China and massive testing in South Korea, for other countries battling the coronavirus around the world. In this work, we attempt to estimate how many COVID-19 cases could have been prevented in the United States (US) when compared with the US’s actual number of cases assuming that on a certain date, the US took China-like or South Korea-like interventions and that these interventions would have been as effective in the US as in China and South Korea. We found that if that date was at the early stage of the outbreak (March 10), more than 99% (1.15 million) fewer infected cases could be expected by the end of the epidemic. This number decreases to 66.03% and 73.06% fewer infected cases with the China-like scenario and the South Korea-like scenario, respectively, if actions were taken on April 1, highlighting the need to respond quickly and effectively to fight the virus. Furthermore, we found that although interventions in both China and South Korea allowed the COVID-19 outbreak to be managed, the epidemic could still oscillate without strict large-scale ‘lockdown’ measures, as shown in South Korea. Our results demonstrate that early effective interventions can save considerably more people from infection and provide a worldwide alert regard the need for swift response.

Quality Control of Data in a Large-Scale Cancer Register Program

1966 ◽  
Vol 05 (02) ◽  
pp. 67-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. I. Lourie ◽  
W. Haenszeland
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Quality Control ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Newly Diagnosed ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Cancer Register ◽  
Independent Review ◽  
End Results

Quality control of data collected in the United States by the Cancer End Results Program utilizing punchcards prepared by participating registries in accordance with a Uniform Punchcard Code is discussed. Existing arrangements decentralize responsibility for editing and related data processing to the local registries with centralization of tabulating and statistical services in the End Results Section, National Cancer Institute. The most recent deck of punchcards represented over 600,000 cancer patients; approximately 50,000 newly diagnosed cases are added annually.Mechanical editing and inspection of punchcards and field audits are the principal tools for quality control. Mechanical editing of the punchcards includes testing for blank entries and detection of in-admissable or inconsistent codes. Highly improbable codes are subjected to special scrutiny. Field audits include the drawing of a 1-10 percent random sample of punchcards submitted by a registry; the charts are .then reabstracted and recoded by a NCI staff member and differences between the punchcard and the results of independent review are noted.

Pathways to Legalization: Undocumented Mexican Immigrants in the US/Mexico Borderlands, 1942–1956

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Elizabeth Rosas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Mexican Immigrants ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mexican Immigrant ◽  
Agricultural Laborers ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Contract Laborers

In the 1940s, curbing undocumented Mexican immigrant entry into the United States became a US government priority because of an alleged immigration surge, which was blamed for the unemployment of an estimated 252,000 US domestic agricultural laborers. Publicly committed to asserting its control of undocumented Mexican immigrant entry, the US government used Operation Wetback, a binational INS border-enforcement operation, to strike a delicate balance between satisfying US growers’ unending demands for surplus Mexican immigrant labor and responding to the jobs lost by US domestic agricultural laborers. Yet Operation Wetback would also unintentionally and unexpectedly fuel a distinctly transnational pathway to legalization, marriage, and extended family formation for some Mexican immigrants.On July 12, 1951, US president Harry S. Truman’s signing of Public Law 78 initiated such a pathway for an estimated 125,000 undocumented Mexican immigrant laborers throughout the United States. This law was an extension the Bracero Program, a labor agreement between the Mexican and US governments that authorized the temporary contracting of braceros (male Mexican contract laborers) for labor in agricultural production and railroad maintenance. It was formative to undocumented Mexican immigrant laborers’ transnational pursuit of decisively personal goals in both Mexico and the United States.Section 501 of this law, which allowed employers to sponsor certain undocumented laborers, became a transnational pathway toward formalizing extended family relationships between braceros and Mexican American women. This article seeks to begin a discussion on how Operation Wetback unwittingly inspired a distinctly transnational approach to personal extended family relationships in Mexico and the United States among individuals of Mexican descent and varying legal statuses, a social matrix that remains relatively unexplored.

Utopias of One

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Kotin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War I ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Original Research ◽  
The Soviet Union

This book is a new account of utopian writing. It examines how eight writers—Henry David Thoreau, W. E. B. Du Bois, Osip and Nadezhda Mandel'shtam, Anna Akhmatova, Wallace Stevens, Ezra Pound, and J. H. Prynne—construct utopias of one within and against modernity's two large-scale attempts to harmonize individual and collective interests: liberalism and communism. The book begins in the United States between the buildup to the Civil War and the end of Jim Crow; continues in the Soviet Union between Stalinism and the late Soviet period; and concludes in England and the United States between World War I and the end of the Cold War. In this way it captures how writers from disparate geopolitical contexts resist state and normative power to construct perfect worlds—for themselves alone. The book contributes to debates about literature and politics, presenting innovative arguments about aesthetic difficulty, personal autonomy, and complicity and dissent. It models a new approach to transnational and comparative scholarship, combining original research in English and Russian to illuminate more than a century and a half of literary and political history.

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