COVID-19 Emergence and Social and Health Determinants in Colorado: A Rapid Spatial Analysis.

Ivan J Ramírez,Ivan J Ramírez,Jieun Lee

doi:10.3390/ijerph17113856

Ivan J Ramírez, Ivan J Ramírez + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113856

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Abstract

The aim of this rapid analysis was to investigate the spatial patterns of COVID-19 emergence across counties in Colorado. In the U.S. West, Colorado has the second highest number of cases and deaths, second only to California. Colorado is also reporting, like other states, that communities of color and low-income persons are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Using GIS and correlation analysis, this study explored COVID-19 incidence and deaths from March 14 to April 8, 2020, with social determinants and chronic conditions. Preliminary results demonstrate that COVID-19 incidence intensified in mountain communities west of Denver and along the Urban Front Range, and evolved into new centers of risk in eastern Colorado. Overall, the greatest increase in COVID-19 incidence was in northern Colorado, i.e., Weld County, which reported the highest rates in the Urban Front Range. Social and health determinants associated with higher COVID-19-related deaths were population density and asthma, indicative of urban areas, and poverty and unemployment, suggestive of rural areas. Furthermore, a spatial overlap of high rates of chronic diseases with high rates of COVID-19 may suggest a broader syndemic health burden, where comorbidities intersect with inequality of social determinants of health.

Highlights

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced officially the coronavirus pandemic which was first detected in Wuhan, China in December of 2019 [1]
Using geographic information systems (GIS) and bivariate correlation analyses, this study investigated COVID-19 incidence and deaths from March 14, 2020 to April 8, 2020 at the county-level and the wider social, economic, and health context of emergence
Using Pearson’s correlation, the analysis showed that COVID-19 incidence rates were positively associated with per capita income (r = 0.32, p-value = 0.009) and multiple unit structures (r = 0.40, p-value = 0.001), and negatively associated with mobile homes (r = −0.31, p-value = 0.014)

Summary

Introduction

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced officially the coronavirus pandemic which was first detected in Wuhan, China in December of 2019 [1]. By March 16, 2020, the new coronavirus labeled COVID-19 had spread globally across 151 territories affecting 167,511 persons and killing more than 6500 [2]. The U.S emerged as the epicenter of COVID-19, surpassing. As of April 13, 2020, the U.S reported 582,468 cases of COVID-19 and. 23,622 deaths [5], representing approximately 30% and 20% of the world’s COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. In the U.S, the state of Colorado, which is the focus of this study, reported the third highest number of COVID-19 cases (n = 7691) in the West, following the states of California and Washington, respectively [6,7]. 329 deaths were documented, since the first case of COVID-19 was reported on February 20 in Colorado [6,8]

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