We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Measuring sensitivity to social distancing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Authors
Kontokosta, Constantine E.; Hong, Boyeong; Bonczak, Bartosz J.
- Abstract
Social distancing remains an effective nonpharmaceutical behavioral interventions to limit the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne diseases, but monitoring and enforcement create nontrivial challenges. Several jurisdictions have turned to "311" resident complaint platforms to engage the public in reporting social distancing non-compliance, but differences in sensitivity to social distancing behaviors can lead to a mis-allocation of resources and increased health risks for vulnerable communities. Using hourly visit data to designated establishments and more than 71,000 social distancing complaints in New York City during the first wave of the pandemic, we develop a method, derived from the Weber-Fechner law, to quantify neighborhood sensitivity and assess how tolerance to social distancing infractions and complaint reporting behaviors vary with neighborhood characteristics. We find that sensitivity to non-compliance is lower in minority and low-income neighborhoods, as well as in lower density areas, resulting in fewer reported complaints than expected given measured levels of overcrowding.
- Subjects
NEW York (N.Y.); SOCIAL distancing; COVID-19 pandemic; NEIGHBORHOOD characteristics; AIRBORNE infection; WEBER-Fechner law
- Publication
Scientific Reports, 2022, Vol 12, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2045-2322
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41598-022-20198-4