Nursing facilities, food manufacturing plants and COVID-19 cases and deaths

Twisha Asher; Partha Deb; Anjelica Gangaram

doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109800

Nursing facilities, food manufacturing plants and COVID-19 cases and deaths

Econ Lett. 2021 Apr:201:109800. doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109800. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Authors

Twisha Asher¹, Partha Deb^{2

3}, Anjelica Gangaram⁴

Affiliations

¹ The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Department of Economics, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016, USA.
² Hunter College, City University of New York, Department of Economics, 695 Park Avenue, West 1501, New York, NY 10065, USA.
³ NBER, USA.
⁴ University of Michigan, School of Public Health, Department of Health Management and Policy, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Abstract

News outlets pointed to meatpacking plants and nursing homes as viral hotspots during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. In contrast to news reports, we find that retirement communities and assisted living facilities were associated with fewer cases and deaths and that skilled nursing facilities were associated with fewer cases. We find that meatpacking plants were associated with more cases and deaths as were bakeries. In contrast dairy plants were associated with fewer cases and deaths. Proactive implementation of policy measures in nursing homes and retirement facilities were beneficial. Analogous guidance was lacking for food manufacturing establishments, potentially exacerbating the spread of the virus.

Keywords: COVID-19; Essential businesses; Meatpacking plants; Nursing homes; Prevalence.