November 30, 2020

COVID-19 Growth in Rural versus Urban Counties with Major Universities at the Start of the 2020 Academic Year

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Geographic Spread

Keywords (Tags): colleges

[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An assessment of COVID-19 growth in counties with universities showed that small metro and non-metro counties had a dramatic infection spike near the beginning of the semester (weeks 2-6) and infection growth remained significantly higher than their large and medium metro counterparts for the study duration (through September 27, 2020). The authors suggest that students moving back into university communities likely contributed to the spread of COVID-19 throughout the larger community. 

Penuliar et al. (Nov 29, 2020). COVID-19 Growth in Rural versus Urban Counties with Major Universities at the Start of the 2020 Academic Year. Pre-print downloaded Nov. 30 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.25.20238642