Department of Sociology and Anthropology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
The Data HEART (Health, Engagement, and Research Team) of West Virginia, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
J Rural Health. 2021 Mar;37(2):266-271. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12558. Epub 2021 Mar 15.
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated various heterogeneities between urban and rural environments in public health. The SARS-CoV-2 virus initially spread into the United States from international ports of entry and into urban population centers, like New York City. Over the course of the pandemic, cases emerged in more rural areas, implicating issues of transportation and mobility. Additionally, many rural areas developed into national hotspots of prevalence and transmission. Our aim was to investigate the preliminary impacts of road travel on the spread of COVID-19. This investigation has implications for future public health mitigation efforts and travel restrictions in the United States.
County-level COVID-19 data were analyzed for spatiotemporal patterns in time-to-event distributions using animated choropleth maps. Data were obtained from The New York Times and the Bureau of the Census. The arrival event was estimated by examining the number of days between the first reported national case (January 21, 2020) and the date that each county attained a given prevalence rate. Of the 3108 coterminous US counties, 2887 were included in the analyses. Data reflect cases accumulated between January 21, 2020, and May 17, 2020.
Animations revealed that COVID-19 was transmitted along the path of interstates. Quantitative results indicated rural-urban differences in the estimated arrival time of COVID-19. Counties that are intersected by interstates had an earlier arrival than non-intersected counties. The arrival time difference was the greatest in the most rural counties and implicates road travel as a factor of transmission into rural communities.
Human mobility via road travel introduced COVID-19 into more rural communities. Interstate travel restrictions and road travel restrictions would have supported stronger mitigation efforts during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduced transmission via network contact.
COVID-19 大流行凸显了公共卫生领域城乡环境的各种异质性。SARS-CoV-2 病毒最初从国际入境口岸传播到美国，并传播到纽约市等城市人口中心。在大流行期间，更多的农村地区出现了病例，这涉及到交通和流动性问题。此外，许多农村地区成为全国流行和传播的热点。我们的目的是调查道路旅行对 COVID-19 传播的初步影响。这一调查对美国未来的公共卫生缓解努力和旅行限制具有重要意义。
使用动画专题地图分析县一级的 COVID-19 数据，以研究时间事件分布的时空模式。数据来自《纽约时报》和人口普查局。通过检查每个县达到特定流行率的天数来估计到达事件。在 3108 个美国县中，有 2887 个县被纳入分析。数据反映了 2020 年 1 月 21 日至 2020 年 5 月 17 日期间累计的病例。
动画显示，COVID-19 是沿着州际公路传播的。定量结果表明，城乡之间 COVID-19 的估计到达时间存在差异。与州际公路相交的县比没有相交的县更早到达。在最农村的县，到达时间的差异最大，这意味着公路旅行是将 COVID-19 传播到农村社区的一个因素。
通过公路旅行的人类流动性将 COVID-19 引入了更多的农村社区。在 COVID-19 大流行的早期阶段，州际旅行限制和道路旅行限制将有助于加强缓解工作，并通过网络接触减少传播。
