Socio-Demographic Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Edited by:
David A. Swanson, University of California Riverside
Richard R. Verdugo, UAB - Centre for Demographic Studies, Barcelona, Spain

Published 2023

The present volume undertakes socio-demographic analyses of four major topics surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic: Data Issues; Statistical Modeling; Analyses; and Policy Concerns. Regarding Data Issues, three chapters cover topics about obtaining reliable information; the production of summary statistics and using the geometric mean; and the importance of using a Demographic framework in better understanding the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical modeling is a second topic, and is covered by three chapters. To begin with, one approach centers on modeling local areas. A second chapter discusses and provides a simple method for estimating the number of unconfirmed COVID-19 cases in a local area; a third chapter undertakes an examination of early warnings and responses.

Analysis is a third topic and is covered by four chapters. The first chapter under this topic covers the effects of race and age on COVID-19. A second chapter examines the effects of COVID-19 on the broadband access and Census 2020 results for the Hopi and Lummi reservations. A third chapter examines the Black Lives Matters activism during the COVID-19 pandemic. A final chapter in this section examines the relative risk of dying from COVID-19 among those infected.

A final topic focuses on policy issues. The first chapter under this topic examines partisan politics and COVID-19. A second chapter examines US policy and COVID-19 cases and deaths. A third chapter examines COVID-19 mortality rates and race-ethnic differences. A fourth chapter examines anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. A final chapter looks at America’s post-pandemic future.

CONTENTS
Preface, Richard R. Verdugo and David A. Swanson. Acknowledgments. SECTION I: DATA. The Struggle to Obtain Reliable COVID-19 Information, David A. Swanson and Eric G. Tyberg. Producing Summary Statistics of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths Over Time: A Note on Using Geometric Measures, Not Arithmetic Ones, Richard Verdugo, Arni S. R. Srinivasa Rao, Steven G. Krantz, and David A. Swanson. The Importance of Demographic Data for Understanding the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Utah, Mike Hollingshaus and Emily Harris. SECTION II: MODELING. Modeling and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Local Area Perspective, David A. Swanson. A Simple Method for Estimating the Number of Unconfirmed COVID-19 Cases in a Local Area That Includes a Confidence Interval: A Case Study of Whatcom County, Washington, David A. Swanson and Ronald E. Cossman. An Early-Warning COVID-19 Alert and Response Protocol for Seasonal Resort Communities, David A. Swanson and Peter A. Morrison. SECTION III: ANALYSIS. Viral Infections, Race, and Age in the United States, Neal Marquez, Jessica Godwin, and Sara Curran. Broadband Access During a Pandemic: 2020 U.S. Census Results for the Hopi and Lummi Reservations, David A. Swanson. Matters of Life, Death, and Livelihood: Black Lives Matters and Labor Activism During the Pandemic, Juliann Allison, Ellen Reese, Jasmine Rocha, and Alessandra Rosales. The Relative Risk of Dying From COVID-19 Among Those Infected Reveals a Disturbing Portrait of Both COVID-19 Mortality and Non-COVID-19 Mortality in the United States, David A. Swanson, Dudley Poston, Steven G. Krantz, and Arni S.R. Srinivasa Rao. The Differential Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US Racial and Ethnic Groups, Richard K. Thomas and Sabrina Alam. SECTION IV: POLICY ISSUES. A Danger to Public Health? Republicanism and the COVID-19 Pandemic, David A. Swanson and Eric G. Tyberg. U.S. Policy and COVID-19 Cases and Deaths: An Analysis, Richard R. Verdugo, David A. Swanson, Arni Rao, and Steven Krantz. The Coronavirus Mortality Rates: Race and Hispanic Ethnic Differences, Richard R. Verdugo and Daphany Verdugo Hall. Anti-Asian Hate During the Pandemic, Michael P. Huynh, Anne Saw, and David T. Takeuchi. America’s Post-Pandemic Future: A Demographic Perspective, David A. Swanson, Peter A. Morrison, Dudley Poston, Steven Krantz, and Arni Rao. About the Contributors.