COVID-19 in New York City: An Ecology of Race and Class Oppression (SpringerBriefs in Public Health)

This book is the first social epidemiological study of COVID-19 spread in New York City (NYC), the primary epicenter of the United States. New York City spread COVID-19 throughout the United States. The context of epicenter formation determined the rapid, extreme rise of NYC case and mortality rates. Decades of public policies destructive of poor neighborhoods of color heavily determined the spread within the City. Premature mortality rates revealed the "weathering" of policy-targeted communities: accelerated aging due to chronic stress. COVID attacks the elderly more severely than those under the age of 60. Communities with high proportions of prematurely aged residents proved fertile ground for COVID illness and mortality. The very public policies that created swaths of white wealth across much of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn destroyed the human diversity needed to ride out crises. Topics covered within the chapters include: Premature Death Rate Geography in New York City: Implications for COVID-19 NYC COVID Markers at the ZIP Code Level Prospero's New Castles: COVID Infection and Premature Mortality in the NY Metro Region Pandemic Firefighting vs. Pandemic Fire Prevention Conclusion: Scales of Time in Disasters An exemplary study in health disparities, COVID-19 in New York City: An Ecology of Race and Class Oppression is essential reading for social epidemiologists, public health researchers of health disparities, those in public service tasked with addressing these problems, and infectious disease scientists who focus on spread in human populations of new zoonotic diseases. The brief also should appeal to students in these fields, civil rights scholars, science writers, medical anthropologists and sociologists, medical and public health historians, public health economists, and public policy scientists. Preface References Contents About the Authors 1 Premature Death Rate Geography in New York City: Implications for COVID-19 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Methods 1.3 Results 1.4 Discussion and Conclusion References 2 NYC COVID Markers at the ZIP Code Level 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Methods 2.3 Results 2.3.1 Brooklyn and Queens 2.3.1.1 Percent Positive Swab Tests 2.3.1.2 Cases/100,000 2.3.1.3 COVID Mortality Rates Per 100,000 2.3.1.4 COVID Markers and Other Public Health Indicators 2.3.2 Manhattan and the Bronx 2.3.2.1 Overview 2.3.2.2 Percent Positive 2.3.2.3 Case Rates Per 100,000 2.3.2.4 COVID Deaths Per 100,000 2.3.2.5 Differing Public Health Cohesion in Manhattan and the Bronx 2.3.3 Public Health of the Four Boroughs 2.4 Discussion References 3 Prospero's New Castles: COVID Infection and Premature Mortality in the NY Metro Region 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The AIDS Syndemic 3.3 The COVID-19 Pandemic 3.4 Diffusion in a Commuting Field 3.5 Toward a National Model 3.6 Discussion 3.7 Appendix: The Data Set References 4 Pandemic Firefighting vs. Pandemic Fire Prevention 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Pandemics in Waiting: Neoliberal Land Use Policies 4.3 Pandemic Penetrance 4.4 Refugia: Failure of the `R0' Model 4.5 Discussion References 5 Conclusion: Scales of Time in Disasters 5.1 Futures References Correction to: COVID-19 in New York City Index