Closure of Anchor Businesses Reduced COVID-19 Transmission During the Early Months of the Pandemic. Issue 12 (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McHugh, Megan; Tian, Yao; Maechling, Claude R.; Farley, Diane; Holl, Jane L.
• Is Part Of: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine. Volume 63:Issue 12(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: business closure -- community health -- COVID-19 -- manufacturing -- wholesale trade -- worker well-being; Medicine, Industrial -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Occupational Medicine -- Periodicals; Environmental Medicine -- Periodicals; Environmental health; Medicine, Industrial; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.9803
• DOI: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002348
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1076-2752

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: To investigate the relationship between the closure of "anchor businesses" – manufacturing plants and distribution centers employing >1000 workers – and the daily, county-level COVID-19 rate between March 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020. Methods: We conducted a comparative, interrupted time series analysis of publicly available county-level data. Our main variable of interest was closure, indicating whether one or more of the anchor businesses within the county experienced a full or partial closure of at least 22 days (main analysis) or at least 1 day (sensitivity analyses). Results: Closure of an anchor business was associated with 142 fewer positive COVID-19 tests per 100, 000 population over a 40-day period. Even short-term and partial closures were associated with reduced spread. Conclusions: Temporary closure of anchor businesses appears to have slowed, but not completely contained, the spread of COVID-19. Abstract : Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text