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Published February 17, 2021 | Version v1
Working paper Restricted

Outdoor activities in the time of COVID-19 and its implications for exposure to vector-borne diseases in the United States

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, WA, USA
  • 2. Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA
  • 3. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, NY, USA
  • 4. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
  • 5. Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI, USA
  • 6. National Institute for Human Resilience, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
  • 7. School of Geography, Development & Environment, University of Arizona, AZ, USA
  • 8. College of Business and Public Policy, University of Alaska Anchorage, AK, USA

Description

Inadvertent consequences of governmental and individual responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to be fully realized. Changes in people's outdoor activities in response to COVID-19, can lead to changes in vector-borne disease risk. This study's objectives were compare outdoor activity patterns and exposure to tick vectors between 2019 and 2020, and to assess the association of 2020 outdoor activity patterns with government-initiated mobility restrictions and individual perceived impacts of COVID-19. We used self-reported data collected from daily surveys available in The Tick App, a smartphone application designed as a tool to identify activity patterns in relation to tick exposure, during the spring and summer of 2019 and 2020. We focused on highly endemic regions for tick-borne diseases in the United States (the Midwest and the Northeast). Participants included any adult over 18 years old was eligible. In 2019, 994 users completed 7,597 surveys and in 2020, 1,329 users completed 9,380 surveys (9.6% were returning users).

We found that the daily proportion of users reporting any type of outdoor activity, including peridomestic activities, showed a two-fold increase in 2020 vs. 2019, while recreational activities in green spaces decreased by 70%. These changes in daily activity patterns were associated to statewide stay-at-home orders in 2020 and persisted despite changes in the county-level Shelter in Place Index (i.e., proxy for mobility changes). By contrast, individual self-reported impacts on outdoor activities (any impact vs. no impact) were positively associated with the Shelter in Place Index and if the participant lived in an urban area. Self-reported tick encounters significantly increased by 30% in 2020 compared to 2019, and were mainly associated to doing outdoor activities and living in a rural county. Obtaining granular information on activity patterns proved useful in gaining insights about potential changes in the risk of tick-borne diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings suggest that public health response should address competing hazards from COVID-19 related outdoor exposure and the increasing risk of tick- and other vector-borne diseases.

Notes

This is a preliminary working paper. It has not been peer reviewed.

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