Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal
The co-occurrence of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season and the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic creates complex dilemmas for protecting populations from these intersecting threats. Climate change is likely contributing to stronger, wetter, slower-moving, and more dangerous hurricanes. Climate-driven hazards underscore the imperative for timely warning, evacuation, and sheltering of storm-threatened populations - proven life-saving protective measures that gather evacuees together inside durable, enclosed spaces when a hurricane approaches. Meanwhile, the rapid acquisition of scientific knowledge regarding how COVID-19 spreads has guided mass anti-contagion strategies, including lockdowns, sheltering at home, physical distancing, donning personal protective equipment, conscientious handwashing, and hygiene practices. These life-saving strategies, credited with preventing millions of COVID-19 cases, separate and move people apart. Enforcement coupled with fear of contracting COVID-19 have motivated high levels of adherence to these stringent regulations. How will populations react when warned to shelter from an oncoming Atlantic hurricane while COVID-19 is actively circulating in the community? Emergency managers, health care providers, and public health preparedness professionals must create viable solutions to confront these potential scenarios: elevated rates of hurricane-related injury and mortality among persons who refuse to evacuate due to fear of COVID-19, and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases among hurricane evacuees who shelter together.
Resource Description
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Extreme Weather-Related Event or Disaster
- Extreme Weather-Related Event or Disaster: Hurricane
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Ocean/Coastal
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Global or Unspecified Location
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Infectious Disease, Injury
- Infectious Disease, Injury: Airborne Disease
- Airborne Disease: Coronavirus [e.g., SARS, MERS, COVID-19]
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Review Article
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Adaptation, Policy, Vulnerable Population
- Adaptation, Policy, Vulnerable Population: Early Warning System
- Adaptation, Policy, Vulnerable Population: Other Vulnerable Population, Specify, Pre-existing Medical Condition
- Other Vulnerable Population, Specify, Pre-existing Medical Condition: Chronic Mental Condition