Race, explicit racial attitudes, implicit racial attitudes, and COVID-19 cases and deaths: An analysis of counties in the United States

Objectives To examine the potential moderating effects of explicit racial attitudes and implicit racial attitudes on the relationship between percent of Black county residents and COVID-19 cases and deaths. Methods We collected data from a variety of publicly available sources for 817 counties in the US. (26% of all counties). Cumulative COVID-19 deaths and cases from January 22 to August 31, 2020 were the dependent variables; explicit racial attitudes and implicit racial attitudes served as the moderators; subjective poor or fair health, food insecurity, percent uninsured, percent unemployed, median family income, percent women, percent of Asian county resident, percent of Hispanic county residents, and percent of people 65 or older were controls. Results The percent of Black county residents was positively associated with COVID-19 cases and deaths at the county level. The relationship between percent of Black residents and COVID-19 cases was moderated by explicit racial attitudes and implicit racial attitudes. Conclusions Implicit racial attitudes can take on a shared property at the community level and effectively explain racial disparities. COVID-19 cases are highest when both the percent of Black county residents and implicit racial attitudes are high.

First Mildly Ill, Nonhospitalized Case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Without Viral Transmission in the United States—Maricopa County, Arizona, 2020

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes a range of illness severity. Mild illness has been reported, but whether illness severity correlates with infectivity is unknown. We describe the public health investigation of a mildly ill, nonhospitalized COVID-19 case who traveled to China. Methods The case was a Maricopa County resident with multiple severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–positive specimens collected on 22 January 2020. Contacts were persons exposed to the case on or after the day before case diagnostic specimen collection. Contacts were monitored for 14 days after last known exposure. High-risk contacts had close, prolonged case contact (≥ 10 minutes within 2 m). Medium-risk contacts wore all US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–recommended personal protective equipment during interactions. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal (NP/OP) specimens were collected from the case and high-risk contacts and tested for SARS-CoV-2. Results Paired case NP/OP specimens were collected for SARS-CoV-2 testing at 11 time points. In 8 pairs (73%), ≥ 1 specimen tested positive or indeterminate, and in 3 pairs (27%) both tested negative. Specimens collected 18 days after diagnosis tested positive. Sixteen contacts were identified; 11 (69%) had high-risk exposure, including 1 intimate contact, and 5 (31%) had medium-risk exposure. In total, 35 high-risk contact NP/OP specimens were collected for SARS-CoV-2 testing; all 35 pairs (100%) tested negative. Conclusions This report demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause mild illness and result in positive tests for up to 18 days after diagnosis, without evidence of transmission to close contacts. These data might inform public health strategies to manage individuals with asymptomatic infection or mild illness.

Evidence for the “Slippery Slope” to Censorship: The Story from Florida and Collier County

The House sponsor of Florida's 2017 HB 989 Instructional Materials law, which allows any county resident to challenge classroom and school library materials, has argued that those who anticipate his bill’s detrimental impact on science curricula “are trying to read down a slippery slope that doesn’t exist.” Tracing the genesis of HB 989 back to censorship efforts by ideologically-motivated groups in Collier County, Florida, this paper validates not only the concerns of science educators, but of all educators who value "the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction."