Green spaces mitigate racial disparity of health: A higher ratio of green spaces indicates a lower racial disparity in SARS-CoV-2 infection rates in the USA

Individual Author(s) / Organizational Author
Lu, Yi
Chen, Long
Liu, Xueming
Yang, Yuwen
Sullivan, William C.
Xu, Wenyan
Webster, Chris
Jiang, Bin
Publisher
PubMed Central
Date
February 2021
Publication
Environment International
Abstract / Description

There is striking racial disparity in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rates in the United States. We hypothesize that the disparity is significantly smaller in areas with a higher ratio of green spaces. County level data on the SARS-CoV-2 infection rates of black and white individuals in 135 of the most urbanized counties across the United States were collected. The total population in these counties is 132,350,027, comprising 40.3% of the U.S. population. The ratio of green spaces by land-cover type in each county was extracted from satellite imagery. A hierarchical regression analysis measured cross-sectional associations between racial disparity in infection rates and green spaces, after controlling for socioeconomic, demographic, pre-existing chronic disease, and built-up area factors. We found a higher ratio of green spaces at the county level is significantly associated with a lower racial disparity in infection rates. Four types of green space have significant negative associations with the racial disparity in SARS-CoV-2 infection rates. A theoretical model with five core mechanisms and one circumstantial mechanism is presented to interpret the findings. (author abstract)

Artifact Type
Research
Reference Type
Journal Article
Geographic Focus
National
Priority Population
Ethnic and racial groups
P4HE Authored
No
Topic Area
Illness/Disease/Injury/Wellbeing » Communicable Disease » COVID-19/Coronavirus
Social/Structural Determinants » Environment/Context » Systemic Determinants