Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Eval Health Prof. 2020 Jun;43(2):135-137. doi: 10.1177/0163278720923224.
The novel 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has led to the closing of all but essential businesses in California. However, several nonessential businesses have remained open in Southern California despite the mandated "stay at home" order issued by the governor. As part of an ongoing vape shop project involving 88 participating shops, this study investigated the number of vape shops that remained open amidst the coronavirus outbreak and related mandates. Examination of shop social media websites and telephone calls to shops revealed that 61.4% ( = 54) have remained open, particularly within Korean/Asian and Hispanic/Latino ethnic locations (32 of the 54 shops). Importantly, walk-in service was much higher within Hispanic/Latino locations compared to African American, Korean/Asian, or non-Hispanic White neighborhoods ( = 0.03). It is not known if shops that stayed open were in direct violation of the order, didn't know all the details of the order, or found a loophole in the order and believed that they were an essential business. Better communication between the vape shop industry and public health officials during this pandemic is needed.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行导致加利福尼亚州除了基本业务外，其他所有业务都关闭了。然而，尽管州长发布了“居家令”，南加州仍有几家非必要企业继续营业。作为一项正在进行的电子烟商店项目的一部分，该研究调查了在冠状病毒爆发和相关命令期间仍在营业的电子烟商店的数量。对商店社交媒体网站和电话访问的检查显示，有 61.4%（=54 家）仍在营业，特别是在韩裔/亚裔和西班牙裔/拉丁裔社区（54 家商店中有 32 家）。重要的是，与非裔美国人、韩裔/亚裔或非西班牙裔白人社区相比，西班牙裔/拉丁裔社区的店内服务更高（=0.03）。目前尚不清楚那些继续营业的商店是否直接违反了该命令，是否不了解该命令的所有细节，或者是否找到了该命令的漏洞，并认为他们是一家必要的企业。在这场大流行期间，电子烟商店行业和公共卫生官员之间需要更好的沟通。
