Pandemic Planning in the United States: An Examination of COVID‐19 Data

• Published date: 01 November 2021
• Author: Charles E. Menifield,Cal Clark
• Date: 01 November 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13326

Research Article

1102 Public Administration Review • November | D ecember 2 021

Abstract: In the early months of 2020, news spread that a coronavirus (COVID-19) had been detected in Wuhan,

China. The virus quickly spread across the country and to other continents. As deaths mounted in the United States,

evidence indicated that some states experienced a higher rate of COVID-19 deaths than other states and that African

American communities were hit harder by the virus than other racial groups. Hence, we pose two questions in this

research: Are COVID-19 deaths spread equally across different states and regions of the United States? Secondly, are

African Americans more likely to die from COVID-19 than other racial groups? Using data from the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and APM Research Lab, we show that some states witnessed significant loss

of life due to the virus and that African Americans were more likely to die from the virus when compared with White

residents.

Evidence for Practice

• Governments should collect local and statewide data with the goal of creating protocols to address pandemic

“hotspots.”

• Governments should be more proactive when planning for pandemics. This includes creating

communication plans with other public organizations as well as private, nonprofit, faith-based,

neighborhood, and community organizations.

• Safety nets for those who are predisposed to being impacted the most by pandemics, such as African

Americans, should be created by policymakers.

In 2009, French and Raymond published a paper

that argued that the likelihood of an influenza

pandemic affecting millions of persons was a real

threat and that local government officials should

prepare for this eventuality. During this same time

period, Schnirring (2010), using CDC data, published

a paper that showed African Americans were more

heavily impacted by pandemic H1N1 hospitalizations,

followed by Hispanics, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and

native populations. Nearly 10 years later, in late

December 2019, French and Raymond’s (2009)

worse-case scenario became a reality when an outbreak

of a previously unknown virus was reported in

Wuhan, China. By March of 2020, the virus had

spread like a tsunami to essentially every corner of the

planet, leaving countless deaths and infections in its

wake. Despite many advances in medicine and recent

history with a pandemic, no one was prepared for the

coronavirus (COVID-19) as it wreaked havoc on an

epic level. In fact, every major facet of our existence

was affected: economy, education, medicine, religion,

and family life. As the number of those impacted by

the virus in the United States has grown, evidence

suggested that certain states and regions were more

impacted than others and that African Americans

were more likely to become infected and die from the

virus than other racial groups (Martin-Howard and

Farmbry 2020). This research is important because

previous research by Nelson (2002) indicated that

racial and ethnic disparities in health care exist even

when factors such as insurance coverage, income, age

and severity of the condition are comparable. If this

is true, only a change in public policy can provide a

remedy for the problem.

Our analysis includes an examination of COVID-19

data for the period Feb 1–May 20, 2020. The goal

of the research is to address two important questions

that have important public policy implications. First,

are COVID-19 deaths spread equally across different

states and regions of the United States? Second, are

African Americans more likely to die from COVID-

19 than other racial groups? Given the existing

inequities in US health care, education, and the

criminal justice system to name a few, the answers to

these questions will provide more evidence to support

the argument that governments are the lone actors

that can bring about health equity in our society.

Charles E. Menifield

Cal Clark

Pandemic Planning in the United States: An Examination of

COVID-19 Data

Rutgers University Newark

Auburn University

Cal Clark is an Emeritus MPA Director

and Alumni Professor of Political Science

at Auburn University. His primary fields of

interest are economic policy, comparative

public policy, and research methods. His

recent books include the co-authored

Challenging Neoliberalism

:

The Economic

Miracles in Chile and Taiwan

(2016),

Preserving Basic U.S. Industries

:

The

Implications of Trumponomics

(2020),

and

Workforce Development

:

The Key to

Prosperity in the 21st Century

(2020).

Email: clarkcm@auburn.edu

Charles E. Menifield is the Dean in the

School of Public Affairs and Administration

at Rutgers University-Newark. His research

interests lie primarily in the areas of

budgeting and financial management,

public health and welfare, and policing. His

most recent articles have appeared in

Public

Administration Review

,

Transport Policy

,

Journal of Public Budgeting

,

Accounting

and Financial Management

,

International

Journal of Public Administration

, and

State

and Local Government Review

.

Email: charles.menifield@rutgers.edu

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 6, pp. 1102–1109. © 2021 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13326.