4 Factors Behind the Rapid Spread of COVID-19 in the US
A lot can be said about what should or shouldn’t have been done to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus across the U.S. at the beginning of this year, but the truth is that the U.S. has unique factors that have influenced the trajectory of this pandemic. We analyze some of those crucial driving factors.
A Large Population
The U.S. is undeniably the third most populous country in the world, and that huge population provides a large sample space for the virus to get willing or unwilling hosts. When global COVID-19 cases are analyzed, the most affected countries also double as those with the largest populations. For example, the U.S., Russia, India, Brazil and Mexico. China doesn’t qualify for inclusion here because its caseload statistics are questionable at best.
To illustrate this population factor even more, a look at the most affected U.S. states indicates that they are also the ones with the largest populations in the country. These include New York State, California, Texas, Florida and Illinois.
Country Size
The novel coronavirus disease can generally be described as a regional disease, with larger countries finding it harder to contain outbreaks since they can spring up from anywhere across the vast stretch of the country.
Globally, the U.S. is the fourth largest country in terms of land mass. It therefore isn’t surprising that the U.S. has been badly affected by this pandemic since a look at the other worst affected countries shows that they happen to command a large land mass as well. They include Brazil, India, Argentina and Russia.
Mobility Within and Out of the Country
It is a known fact that the coronavirus doesn’t move from one place to another on its own. Rather, it is spread by people who travel from one location to another. According to several sources, such as the Washington Post, the U.S. takes the first spot in terms of internal travel by its residents. It also ranks as the third in terms of receiving travelers from other parts of the world, and it follows closely behind Spain and France. France and Spain have also taken a severe beating from the virus, and so did other countries like Italy which receive a lot of foreign travelers.
Diversity of the Population
Pew Research suggests that there is a genetic factor to the spread (or lack thereof) of the COVID-19 pandemic, and estimates indicate that the U.S ranks high among countries with diverse populations.
Diversity means that some sections of the population will exhibit degrees of resistance to the virus, while others will be highly susceptible to the infection. Other socioeconomic factors can also come into play, and that could be why predominantly black communities in the U.S. had it rough, just as the elderly in nursing homes.
It may be a little unfair to say the U.S. has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic because it is hard to adjust for the factors above in each country across the world for a fair comparison. Biomedical industry watchers wonder what entities like Processa Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PCSA) would suggest to avoid such a catastrophe in future.
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
A lot can be said about what should or shouldn’t have been done to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus across the U.S. at the beginning of this year, but the truth is that the U.S. has unique factors that have influenced the trajectory of this pandemic. We analyze some of those crucial driving factors.
A Large Population
The U.S. is undeniably the third most populous country in the world, and that huge population provides a large sample space for the virus to get willing or unwilling hosts. When global COVID-19 cases are analyzed, the most affected countries also double as those with the largest populations. For example, the U.S., Russia, India, Brazil and Mexico. China doesn’t qualify for inclusion here because its caseload statistics are questionable at best.
To illustrate this population factor even more, a look at the most affected U.S. states indicates that they are also the ones with the largest populations in the country. These include New York State, California, Texas, Florida and Illinois.
Country Size
The novel coronavirus disease can generally be described as a regional disease, with larger countries finding it harder to contain outbreaks since they can spring up from anywhere across the vast stretch of the country.
Globally, the U.S. is the fourth largest country in terms of land mass. It therefore isn’t surprising that the U.S. has been badly affected by this pandemic since a look at the other worst affected countries shows that they happen to command a large land mass as well. They include Brazil, India, Argentina and Russia.
Mobility Within and Out of the Country
It is a known fact that the coronavirus doesn’t move from one place to another on its own. Rather, it is spread by people who travel from one location to another. According to several sources, such as the Washington Post, the U.S. takes the first spot in terms of internal travel by its residents. It also ranks as the third in terms of receiving travelers from other parts of the world, and it follows closely behind Spain and France. France and Spain have also taken a severe beating from the virus, and so did other countries like Italy which receive a lot of foreign travelers.
Diversity of the Population
Pew Research suggests that there is a genetic factor to the spread (or lack thereof) of the COVID-19 pandemic, and estimates indicate that the U.S ranks high among countries with diverse populations.
Diversity means that some sections of the population will exhibit degrees of resistance to the virus, while others will be highly susceptible to the infection. Other socioeconomic factors can also come into play, and that could be why predominantly black communities in the U.S. had it rough, just as the elderly in nursing homes.
It may be a little unfair to say the U.S. has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic because it is hard to adjust for the factors above in each country across the world for a fair comparison. Biomedical industry watchers wonder what entities like Processa Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: PCSA) would suggest to avoid such a catastrophe in future.
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the BioMedWire website applicable to all content provided by BMW, wherever published or re-published: http://BMW.fm/Disclaimer
