This reader offers some of the most important writing to date from the science of COVID-19 and what science says about its spread and social implications. The readings have been carefully selected, introduced, and interpreted for an introductory or graduate student readership by a distinguished medical sociology and political science team. While some of the early science was inaccurate, lacking sufficient data, or otherwise incomplete, the author team has selected the most important and reliable early work for teachers and students in courses on medical sociology, public health, nursing, infectious diseases, epidemiology, anthropology of medicine, sociology of health and illness, social aspects of medicine, comparative health systems, health policy and management, health behaviors, and community health. Global in scope, the book tells the story of what happened and how COVID-19 was dealt with. Much of this material is in clinical journals, normally not considered in the social sciences, which are nonetheless informative and authoritative for student and faculty readers. Their selection and interpretation for students makes this concise reader an essential teaching source about COVID-19. An accompanying online resource on the books Routledge web page will update and evolve by providing links to new readings as the science develops.
Contents
Part I. Introduction
Preparing for the Next Pandemic
Identifying Airborne Transmission as the Dominant Route for the Spread of
COVID-19
Asymptomatic Transmission, the Achilles Heel of Current Strategies to
Control Covid-19
Part II. The Origin in China
Pangolins Harbor SARS-CoV-2-Related Coronaviruses
The Epidemiological and Clinical Features of COVID-19 and Lessons from this
Global Infectious Public Health Event
Authoritarianism, Outbreaks, and Information Politics
Chinas Diplomacy and Changing the COVID-19 Narrative
Part III. Europe
First Cases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO European
Region, 24 January to 21 February 2020
Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality: Are Comorbidities to Blame?
Nudges Against Pandemics: Swedens COVID-19 Containment Strategy in
Perspective
Herd immunity or suppression strategy to combat COVID-19
Part IV. United States and Canada
Public Health Response to the Initiation and Spread of Pandemic COVID-19 in
the United States, February 24April 21, 2020
Characteristics of Persons Who Died with COVID-19 United States, February
12May 18, 2020
States Divided: The Implications of American Federalism for COVID-19
Shelter-In-Place Orders Reduced COVID-19 Mortality and Reduced The Rate Of
Growth In Hospitalizations
Strong Social Distancing Measures in the United States Reduced the COVID-19
Growth Rate
Understanding COVID-19 Risks and Vulnerabilities among Black Communities in
America: The Lethal Force of Syndemics
Early Signs Indicate That COVID-19 is Exacerbating Gender Inequality in the
Labor Force
Visualizing the Geographic and Demographic Distribution of COVID-19
Part V. Latin America and Africa
In the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil, Do Brown Lives Matter?"
The Colliding Epidemics of COVID-19, Ebola, and Measles in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo
Africa in the Path of Covid-19
Part VI. Resolution
Why do countries respond differently to COVID-19? A comparative study of
Sweden, China, France, and Japan
How Pandemics End
William C. Cockerham is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Chair Emeritus, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Research Scholar of Sociology, College of William & Mary, USA. He is the author of Medical Sociology, 15th ed. (Routledge, forthcoming); Sociological Theories of Health and Illness (Routledge, 2021); Sociology of Mental Disorder, 11th ed. (Routledge, 2021); Social Causes of Health and Disease, 3rd ed. (2021); Associate Editor-in-Chief, The International Encyclopedia of Public Health (2017); and Editor-in-Chief, Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society (2014).
Geoffrey B. Cockerham, Associate Professor of Political Science at Utah Valley University, is the author of Global Governance and Public Health (2018) and Health and Globalization (2010).
