Measuring Sensitivity to Social Distancing Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic
22 Pages Posted: 2 Mar 2022
Date Written: March 1, 2022
Abstract
Social distancing remains one of the most effective nonpharmaceutical behavioral interventions to limit the spread of COVID-19, but monitoring and enforcing compliance creates nontrivial challenges. Several jurisdictions have turned to ‘311’ resident complaint platforms to engage the public in reporting social distancing non-compliance, but differences in sensitivity to social distancing behaviors can lead to a mis-allocation of resources and increased health risks. Using hourly visit data to designated establishments and more than 71,000 social distancing complaints in New York City during the first wave of the pandemic, we develop a method, derived from the Weber-Fechner law, to quantify neighborhood sensitivity and assess how tolerance to social distancing infractions and complaint reporting behaviors vary with neighborhood characteristics. We find that sensitivity to non-compliance is lower in minority and low-income neighborhoods, as well as in lower density and Republican-leaning areas, resulting in fewer reported complaints than expected given measured levels of overcrowding.
Keywords: Behavior Change, Social Distancing, Bias, COVID-19
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