Abstract
Yakima County, Washington, a rural county with an urban core suffered disproportionately under the conditions presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and summer wildfires of 2020. With an infection rate of over 700 per 100,000 population at the height of the pandemic, the county concurrently experienced 14 consecutive days of an air quality index in the unhealthy to hazardous range in August 2020. This paper examines the contributing socioeconomic, geographic, and environmental vulnerabilities that make Yakima County particularly susceptible to the continuum of expected COVID-19 disease and related outcomes and suggests comprehensive areas of investigation to mitigate its impact on special populations, including Hispanic-Latino communities, agricultural, food production, and other essential workers.
Highlights
IntroductionYakima County, Washington has exhibited the highest COVID-19 ( referred to as Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2) infection rate among any county on the West Coast of the United States [1], with a peak rate of infection that reached above 700 cases per 100,000 population for a 14-day period during June of 2020 [2]
This paper examines the contributing socioeconomic, geographic, and environmental vulnerabilities that make Yakima County susceptible to the continuum of expected COVID-19 disease and related outcomes and suggests comprehensive areas of investigation to mitigate its impact on special populations, including Hispanic-Latino communities, agricultural, food production, and other essential workers
Yakima County, Washington has exhibited the highest COVID-19 infection rate among any county on the West Coast of the United States [1], with a peak rate of infection that reached above 700 cases per 100,000 population for a 14-day period during June of 2020 [2]
Summary
Yakima County, Washington has exhibited the highest COVID-19 ( referred to as Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2) infection rate among any county on the West Coast of the United States [1], with a peak rate of infection that reached above 700 cases per 100,000 population for a 14-day period during June of 2020 [2]. Yakima has been ranked as the 5th worst municipality for short-term particle air pollution in the United States [5], placing this region at additional risk for environmental exposures that may exacerbate vulnerability to COVID-19 disease and respiratory outcomes [6].
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