Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Megahed, Fadel M
• Jones-Farmer, L. Allison
• Zhao, Longwen
• Rigdon, Steven E
• Odoi, Agricola

Titel

Modeling the differences in the time-series profiles of new COVID-19 daily confirmed cases in 3,108 contiguous U.S. counties: A retrospective analysis

Ist Teil von

• PloS one, 2021-11, Vol.16 (11), p.e0242896-e0242896

Ort / Verlag

San Francisco: Public Library of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Objective The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has exhibited a distinct multiwave pattern beginning in March 2020. Paradoxically, most counties do not exhibit this same multiwave pattern. We aim to answer three research questions: (1) How many distinct clusters of counties exhibit similar COVID-19 patterns in the time-series of daily confirmed cases? (2) What is the geographic distribution of the counties within each cluster? and (3) Are county-level demographic, socioeconomic and political variables associated with the COVID-19 case patterns? Materials and methods We analyzed data from counties in the U.S. from March 1, 2020 to January 2, 2021. Time series clustering identified clusters in the daily confirmed cases of COVID-19. An explanatory model was used to identify demographic, socioeconomic and political variables associated with the outbreak patterns. Results Three patterns were identified from the cluster solution including counties in which cases are still increasing, those that peaked in the late fall, and those with low case counts to date. Several county-level demographic, socioeconomic, and political variables showed significant associations with the identified clusters. Discussion The pattern of the outbreak is related both to the geographic location within the U.S. and several variables including population density and government response. Conclusion The reported pattern of cases in the U.S. is observed through aggregation of the daily confirmed COVID-19 cases, suggesting that local trends may be more informative. The pattern of the outbreak varies by county, and is associated with important demographic, socioeconomic, political and geographic factors.