Assessment of Retrospective COVID-19 Spatial Clusters with Respect to Demographic Factors: Case Study of Kansas City, Missouri, United States

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The United States (U.S.) has the highest number of reported COVID-19 infections and related deaths in the world, accounting for 17.8% of total global confirmed cases as of August 2021. As COVID-19 spread throughout communities across the U.S., it became clear that inequities would arise among differing demographics. Several researchers have suggested that certain racial and ethnic minority groups may have been disproportionately impacted by the spread of COVID-19. In the present study, we used the daily data of COVID-19 cases in Kansas City, Missouri, to observe differences in COVID-19 clusters with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity. Specifically, we utilized a retrospective Poisson spatial scan statistic with respect to demographic factors to detect daily clusters of COVID-19 in Kansas City at the zip code level from March to November 2020. Our statistical results indicated that clusters of the male population were more widely scattered than clusters of the female population. Clusters of the Hispanic population had the highest prevalence and were also more widely scattered. This demographic cluster analysis can provide guidance for reducing the social inequalities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, applying stronger preventive and control measures to emerging clusters can reduce the likelihood of another epidemic wave of infection.

Prospective spatial-temporal clusters of COVID-19 in local communities: case study of Kansas City, Missouri, United States

“…In this paper, we utilized a prospective space-time analysis to detect emerging clusters of cases in Kansas City, MO [26]. By conducting retrospective spatial analysis, the researchers found significant differences in COVID-19 clusters with respect to demographic factors of gender, race, and ethnicity.…”

“…This study was approved by the KCMO Health Department, has been granted a waiver of informed consent, and is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. We have the same data variables from a previous study [ 26 ]. The data contain the following variables: date of case receipt, Epidemiological (Epi) week, Epi year, EpiTrax CMR# [ 32 ], age, gender, race, zip code, specimen collection date, vital status and outbreak-associated.…”

“…The study area in this research is located in Kansas City, in the western part of the U.S. state of Missouri. Kansas City is located in Jackson County, extending into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties [26]. It is located between latitude 39°05′59′′ N and longitude 94°34′42′′ W. (Figure 1).…”

“…Of particular interest, Kansas City, Missouri (MO), has become one of the significant hot spots for COVID-19 in the United States due to an increase in the rate of positive COVID-19 test results [ 26 ]. To combat the threat, Kansas City's mayor, Quinton Lucas, issued a State of Emergency proclamation on 12 March 2020, which mandated masks and restricted gatherings and congregations of individuals [ 27 ].…”

Missing science: A scoping study of COVID-19 epidemiological data in the United States

“…Specific predictors varied by study and included age or gender [210, 211, [271,302] or living in shared spaces like dormitories or detention facilities [236,300]. Sixteen analytic studies reported on variation of infection incidence by geospatial characteristics including the proportion of particular demographic groups in a community [221,286,305,301,310], work location [239], neighborhood deprivation/vulnerability levels or income [229,230,250,283,285], zip code education levels [292], and correlation of school-related infection to community incidence rates [264].…”