Geographical patterns of social cohesion drive disparities in early COVID infection hazard

Loring J Thomas; Peng Huang; Fan Yin; Junlan Xu; Zack W Almquist; John R Hipp; Carter T Butts

doi:10.1073/pnas.2121675119

Geographical patterns of social cohesion drive disparities in early COVID infection hazard

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Mar 22;119(12):e2121675119. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2121675119. Epub 2022 Mar 14.

Authors

Loring J Thomas¹, Peng Huang^{1

2}, Fan Yin², Junlan Xu², Zack W Almquist^{3

4

5

6

7}, John R Hipp^{1

8}, Carter T Butts^{1

2

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697.
² Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697.
³ Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
⁴ Department of Statistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
⁵ Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
⁶ Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
⁷ eScience Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
⁸ Department of Criminology, Law & Society, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697.
⁹ Department of Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697.
¹⁰ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697.

Abstract

The uneven spread of COVID-19 has resulted in disparate experiences for marginalized populations in urban centers. Using computational models, we examine the effects of local cohesion on COVID-19 spread in social contact networks for the city of San Francisco, finding that more early COVID-19 infections occur in areas with strong local cohesion. This spatially correlated process tends to affect Black and Hispanic communities more than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Local social cohesion thus acts as a potential source of hidden risk for COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; diffusion; health disparities; social networks; spatial heterogeneity.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / epidemiology*
COVID-19 / transmission
COVID-19 / virology
Geography, Medical
Healthcare Disparities*
Humans
Public Health Surveillance
SARS-CoV-2*
San Francisco / epidemiology
Social Cohesion*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding