WVU in the News: Can urban and rural Americans get on the same page about COVID-19?
The entire United States is grappling with the novel coronavirus pandemic. However, not all areas have been equally affected so far—and there are huge differences between how urban and rural areas have been responding to the threat.
According to Gallup polls, Americans who live in areas with high population density are far more likely to practice basic social distancing—like avoiding stores and restaurants—than those in the more rural parts of the country. In rural areas, only 42 percent are taking these precautions. In the densest cities, two thirds are doing so. That’s a huge 24-point difference.
Dr. Michael Brumage, the director of the Preventive Medicine Residency Program at the West Virginia University School of Public Health, analogized the situation to that of a war with a slowly-moving front.
Photo: Greater Good Magazine