The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract Background Policies to restrict population mobility are a commonly used strategy to limit the transmission of contagious diseases. Among measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were dynamic stay-at-home orders informed by real-time, regional-level data. California was the first st...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2023-05-01
|
| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15858-7 |
| _version_ | 1797822594043346944 |
|---|---|
| author | Emilie Schwarz Lara Schwarz Anaïs Teyton Katie Crist Tarik Benmarhnia |
| author_facet | Emilie Schwarz Lara Schwarz Anaïs Teyton Katie Crist Tarik Benmarhnia |
| author_sort | Emilie Schwarz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Policies to restrict population mobility are a commonly used strategy to limit the transmission of contagious diseases. Among measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were dynamic stay-at-home orders informed by real-time, regional-level data. California was the first state in the U.S. to implement this novel approach; however, the effectiveness of California’s four-tier system on population mobility has not been quantified. Methods Utilizing data from mobile devices and county-level demographic data, we evaluated the impact of policy changes on population mobility and explored whether demographic characteristics explained variability in responsiveness to policy changes. For each California county, we calculated the proportion of people staying home and the average number of daily trips taken per 100 persons, across different trip distances and compared this to pre-COVID-19 levels. Results We found that overall mobility decreased when counties moved to a more restrictive tier and increased when moving to a less restrictive tier, as the policy intended. When placed in a more restrictive tier, the greatest decrease in mobility was observed for shorter and medium-range trips, while there was an unexpected increase in the longer trips. The mobility response varied by geographic region, as well as county-level median income, gross domestic product, economic, social, and educational contexts, the prevalence of farms, and recent election results. Conclusions This analysis provides evidence of the effectiveness of the tier-based system in decreasing overall population mobility to ultimately reduce COVID-19 transmission. Results demonstrate that socio-political demographic indicators drive important variability in such patterns across counties. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:11:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-43553cfe9a07463291cb4dce695841c1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T10:11:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-43553cfe9a07463291cb4dce695841c12023-05-21T11:29:10ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582023-05-0123111210.1186/s12889-023-15858-7The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemicEmilie Schwarz0Lara Schwarz1Anaïs Teyton2Katie Crist3Tarik Benmarhnia4École des Hautes Études en Santé PubliqueSchool of Public Health, San Diego State UniversitySchool of Public Health, San Diego State UniversityScripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San DiegoHerbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San DiegoAbstract Background Policies to restrict population mobility are a commonly used strategy to limit the transmission of contagious diseases. Among measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were dynamic stay-at-home orders informed by real-time, regional-level data. California was the first state in the U.S. to implement this novel approach; however, the effectiveness of California’s four-tier system on population mobility has not been quantified. Methods Utilizing data from mobile devices and county-level demographic data, we evaluated the impact of policy changes on population mobility and explored whether demographic characteristics explained variability in responsiveness to policy changes. For each California county, we calculated the proportion of people staying home and the average number of daily trips taken per 100 persons, across different trip distances and compared this to pre-COVID-19 levels. Results We found that overall mobility decreased when counties moved to a more restrictive tier and increased when moving to a less restrictive tier, as the policy intended. When placed in a more restrictive tier, the greatest decrease in mobility was observed for shorter and medium-range trips, while there was an unexpected increase in the longer trips. The mobility response varied by geographic region, as well as county-level median income, gross domestic product, economic, social, and educational contexts, the prevalence of farms, and recent election results. Conclusions This analysis provides evidence of the effectiveness of the tier-based system in decreasing overall population mobility to ultimately reduce COVID-19 transmission. Results demonstrate that socio-political demographic indicators drive important variability in such patterns across counties.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15858-7COVID-19MobilityPolicy evaluationCaliforniaMobile devices |
| spellingShingle | Emilie Schwarz Lara Schwarz Anaïs Teyton Katie Crist Tarik Benmarhnia The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic BMC Public Health COVID-19 Mobility Policy evaluation California Mobile devices |
| title | The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full | The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_short | The role of the California tier system in controlling population mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | role of the california tier system in controlling population mobility during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | COVID-19 Mobility Policy evaluation California Mobile devices |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15858-7 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT emilieschwarz theroleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT laraschwarz theroleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT anaisteyton theroleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT katiecrist theroleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT tarikbenmarhnia theroleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT emilieschwarz roleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT laraschwarz roleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT anaisteyton roleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT katiecrist roleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic AT tarikbenmarhnia roleofthecaliforniatiersystemincontrollingpopulationmobilityduringthecovid19pandemic |