Egress Behavior from Select NYC COVID-19 Exposed Health Facilities March-May 2020

Description

Methods (English)

This rapid response surveillance project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to collect "perishable" data on egress behaviors and neighborhood conditions surrounding healthcare centers (HCCs) in New York City (NYC) during the initial NYC COVID-19 PAUSE ordinance from March 22nd to May 19th, 2020.  Anonymized data on NYC HCC egress behaviors were collected by observational field workers using a phone-based mapping application.  Each egress trip record includes the day of week, time of day, destination category type, along with an array of behavioral outcome categories, ambient weather conditions and socio-economic factors.  Egress trajectories with precise estimates of distance traveled and the spatial dispersion or "spread" around each HCC were added via post-processing.  The data collection and cleaning process resulted in 5,030 individual egress records from 18 facilities.

The study was funded for 9 weeks with student observers collecting data 10-20 hours per week until May 19, 2020.   Ultimately, 18 facilities across 4 of New York City's 5 boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx) were selected.  

Procedurally, field observers positioned themselves across the street from their assigned HCC egress location, and then traced each subject's egress route, noting locations of interactions with the built environment or other individuals.  Final destinations were categorized by location type (e.g., coffee shop, pharmacy, deli, food trucks), including whether subjects returned to the medical facility or entering a nearby one (e.g., temporary tent, adjacent clinic or campus building).  For each HCC, egress recordings extended from the same pre-specified point until one of three outcomes occurred: (1) the subject entered a vehicle, subway station, building or other final destination and was no longer visible, 2) tracking exceeded 20 minutes (an average observation period lasted 5 minutes in duration); or (3) the subject walked more than 1.3 km from the HCC.