In the fight against COVID-19, there were restrictions put on many activities, gatherings, and work. Recently, a study was conducted by Seth G Benzell, Avinash Collins, and Christos Nicolaides, on the Social Benefits and Transmission Risk of COVID-19, at 26 locations in the U.S. The results have been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Mobility data of 47 million smart phones were used to study the measure of the risk of infection at the location by authors. Measures are at specific location economic benefits, including annual payroll, receipts, and employment, were obtained from the US Census Statistics of US Businesses. Consumer benefits were measured using a nationally representative survey of 1099 residents.
The main idea behind the survey is to know the locations which are better for trade and can have the restrictions loosened. The study showed that benefits were highest relative to risk for banks, dentists, colleges and universities, grocery stores, and general merchandise stores. Benefits were lowest relative to risk for gyms, liquor and tobacco stores, cafes, and sporting goods stores.
Among location categories, the reduction in visits between February and March 2020 resulted in an increase with increasing risk relative to benefits as found out by authors. The same study, done for specific locations will help prioritize locations for reopening, as stated by the authors.
