Finch Holmes, Hernández Finch Maria E, Mytych Katherine
Educational Psychology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, United States.
Front Sociol. 2021 Oct 22;6:629042. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2021.629042. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in China in late 2019, and subsequently spread across the world during the first several months of 2020, has had a dramatic impact on all facets of life. At the same time, it has not manifested in the same way in every nation. Some countries experienced a large initial spike in cases and deaths, followed by a rapid decline, whereas others had relatively low rates of both outcomes throughout the first half of 2020. The United States experienced a unique pattern of the virus, with a large initial spike, followed by a moderate decline in cases, followed by second and then third spikes. In addition, research has shown that in the United States the severity of the pandemic has been associated with poverty and access to health care services. This study was designed to examine whether the course of the pandemic has been uniform across America, and if not how it differed, particularly with respect to poverty. Results of a random intercept multilevel mixture model revealed that the pandemic followed four distinct paths in the country. The least ethnically diverse (85.1% white population) and most rural (82.8% rural residents) counties had the lowest death rates (0.06/1000) and the weakest link between deaths due to COVID-19 and poverty ( = 0.03). In contrast, counties with the highest proportion of urban residents (100%), greatest ethnic diversity (48.2% nonwhite), and highest population density (751.4 people per square mile) had the highest COVID-19 death rates (0.33/1000), and strongest relationship between the COVID-19 death rate and poverty ( = 46.21). Given these findings, American policy makers need to consider developing responses to future pandemics that account for local characteristics. These responses must take special account of pandemic responses among people of color, who suffered the highest death rates in the nation.
2019年末始于中国并于2020年头几个月随后蔓延至全球的新冠疫情，对生活的方方面面都产生了巨大影响。与此同时，它在每个国家的表现方式并不相同。一些国家在病例和死亡人数上最初出现大幅激增，随后迅速下降，而其他一些国家在2020年上半年这两个指标的发生率相对较低。美国经历了病毒的独特模式，最初大幅激增，随后病例数适度下降，接着又出现第二波和第三波激增。此外，研究表明，在美国，疫情的严重程度与贫困以及获得医疗保健服务的情况有关。本研究旨在考察疫情在美国各地的发展过程是否一致，如果不一致，具体有何差异，尤其是在贫困方面。随机截距多级混合模型的结果显示，疫情在美国呈现出四条不同的路径。种族多样性最低（白人人口占85.1%）且农村人口最多（农村居民占82.8%）的县死亡率最低（0.06/1000），新冠死亡与贫困之间的关联最弱（ = 0.03）。相比之下，城市居民比例最高（100%）、种族多样性最大（非白人占48.2%）且人口密度最高（每平方英里751.4人）的县新冠死亡率最高（0.33/1000），新冠死亡率与贫困之间的关系最强（ = 46.21）。鉴于这些发现，美国政策制定者需要考虑制定应对未来疫情的措施，这些措施要考虑到当地特点。这些应对措施必须特别考虑有色人种群体中的疫情应对情况，他们在美国的死亡率最高。
