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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 book's Routledge web page will update and evolve by providing links to new readings as the science develops.
List of contents
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
- China's 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: Sweden's 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 24-April 21, 2020
- Characteristics of Persons Who Died with COVID-19 - United States, February 12-May 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
About the author
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).
Summary
This reader offers the most important writing to date from the science of COVID-19 and what science says for its spread and social implications. With carefully selected chapters for an introductory or graduate student readership by a distinguished medical sociology team, this reader is an essential teaching resource on Covid-19.
