More financial concerns translate into less attention about COVID-19

According to Washington State University, workers experiencing work and financial insecurity are less likely to follow the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for COVID-19, including physical distance, restrictions on travel from home, and hand washing. … apparently … Survey Published in Journal of Applied Psychology.

Researchers who surveyed 745 workers in 43 states also found that state unemployment benefits and COVID-19 policies influence the relationship between economic concerns and compliance with coronavirus precautions. ..

WSU professor of psychology and lead author Tahira Probusto shows that the idea of ​​scarcity can affect how much people can focus on responding to a pandemic.

What is the impact

With a limited set of resources that people have at their disposal, such as time, money, and social support, the idea is that the less resources there are, the harder it is to develop guidelines recommended by the CDC. Economic risk factors affect people’s behavior. The provision of safety nets or fallbacks has reduced the risk factors for employment insecurity associated with reduced compliance with guidelines.

In states with low unemployment benefits, employment insecurity was associated with a 7% reduction in compliance with COVID-19 preventive behavior.

The COVID-19 obligations imposed by the state also had a positive effect on compliance, but appeared to benefit more primarily to financially safe workers. In states where there were less restrictions on behaviors that could spread the disease, workers were less likely to follow the CDC’s recommendations, regardless of whether respondents were financially safe or unstable.

However, in more responsive states, including measures such as stay-at-home orders and closure of non-essential businesses, financially safe employees take preventive action compared to financially uneasy workers. Was 13% higher.

Studies show that even a slight reduction in adult social contact can reduce infection and ultimate mortality, so these differences can have significant public health implications.

Compliance with CDC guidelines will also impact hospitals and healthcare systems as it helps prevent COVID-19 patients from flooding emergency rooms and overwhelming medical resources such as ventilators and personal protective equipment. receive. In this way, the healthcare industry itself can benefit from coping with financial instability, especially in cold weather.

Researchers used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, an online crowdsourcing platform, to recruit survey participants. They distort the demographics of that sample by 62% for men and 68% for college-educated people, compared to about 50% of the general population in the United States being men and 35% having college education. I admit that I am. However, the platform allowed researchers to investigate groups of workers representing most states in the United States. Respondents’ median household income ranged from $ 50,000 to $ 59,000, close to the median US $ 60,293.

Data for this study were collected in April, the month following the World Health Organization’s official declaration of a pandemic on March 11.

Big trend

The data released by Singapore Institute of Technology in October is 3 strategies Implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic should have been considered: controlled movements by implementing some form of adjusted social distance, home orders, or extreme blockades. Early and sustainable implementation of containment through internal and external border control. Efficient and early testing to identify symptomatic and asymptomatic transmitters.

These are not new strategies, but I learned from previous pandemics. However, as a precautionary measure to contain the early COVID-19, many countries have chosen to wait when these strategies should have been implemented in some way.

The number of COVID-19 cases continues to bring harsh news that front-line healthcare professionals struggled to obtain the necessary testing capabilities and the necessary personal protective equipment early in the pandemic, especially in the United States.

Johns Hopkins University early on Monday afternoon Coronavirus tracker More than 9.9 million viruses have been identified in the United States, with more than 237,000 deaths. Both are world leaders. India is second on the list (8,553,657 cases, 126,611 deaths) and Brazil is third (5,664,115 cases, 162,397 deaths).

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