POLITICAL PANDEMIC: Ideology & Public Health Practices at the Claremont Colleges

POLITICAL PANDEMIC cover

Ideology & Public Health Practices at the Claremont Colleges in the COVID-19 Pandemic

ID: Coronavirus molecules that are blue and purple. Three molecules are on the page, two small and one large.

Lily Fillwalk & Marcus Jackson

This study was conducted at the Claremont Colleges in the Fall of 2020. A survey was sent out to Pomona College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Scripps College. The survey asked questions related to an individual’s political ideation along with their public health practices related to the SARS-Cov-2/COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the individuals (94) that replied to the survey, 48.9% attended Pitzer College, 21.3% attended Scripps College, 11.7% attended Claremont McKenna College, 10.6% attended Pomona College, and 7.4% attended Harvey Mudd College.

ID: A globe with blue oceans and green land is pictured on the right.

There is a black outline around the circular globe. There is a face on the globe depciting eyebrows and eyes with simple lines. Two blue tears aer falling from the eye of the globe.

There is a white surgical maks covering the mouth of the globe.

SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, also known as the novel Coronavirus, was the virus responsible for the pandemic of 2020. To clarify, SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes the disease COVID-19.

The virus has predominantly symptoms of fever, cough, loss of taste or smell, and even no symptoms at all3. The virus spreads through droplets or airborne particles from another individual infected with the disease1.

When this zine was created, the pandemic was ongoing. There were 9.28 million people infected and 213,000 individuals that had died from COVID-19 in the United States of America, as well. The Claremont Colleges had moved to a virtual platform.

Currently, the 2020 Presidential election between Donald Trump and Joseph Biden is occurring. The Trump Administration failed to enact closure of the country to slow the spread of COVID-19. For example, the Administration announced their ‘Reopening America Again’ plan on April 16, when there had been 669,272 cases and 36,480 deaths of COVID-19 in America10. This was a month after the President had declared a state of national emergency.

The Trump Administration has also denied science throughout the entire pandemic. For example President Trump has said that “I don’t agree with the statement that if everybody wears a mask, everything disappears,” as well said the ‘virus’ would go away quickly6. Public health has now become a politicized issue, with wearing a mask being seen as a political statement.

ID: On the right there are various headlines and tweets, such as “The US is entering the ‘most dealth phase’ of the coronavirus pandemic, top Trump adviser warns”, a tweet from @realDonaldTrump that said, “The Fake News Media is riding COVID, COVID, COVID, all the way to the Election. Losers!”, a headline that states, “100,00 CASES IN ONE DAY: A NEW COVID-19 RECORD IN THE US,” a headline stating, “Voting in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Wear a Mask and Bring Your Own Pen,” and a headline that states, “Coronacirus live updates: U.S. Covid-10 hospitalizations surge ar an alarming rate; Europe confronts new lockdowns.”

Since SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 is spread through droplets and aerosol, the use of masks prevents a cough or sneeze from being sent out into the air, as well as protects an individual from coming into contact with these particles. When states mandated public mask usage was implemented on state levels, the COVID-19 daily growth rate declined8. Mask usage ultimately mitigates the spread of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.

98.9% of all individuals that responded stated that they wear a mask when around others that they were not quarantining or isolating with. Out of the 98.9% that responded that they wore a mask, 93.5% stated that they wore a mask due to health concerns, while 6.5% stated they wore a mask due to the statewide mandate.

1.1% of all individuals that responded that they do NOT wear a mask when around others that they were not quarantining or isolating with. The reasoning behind this was attributed to scientific beliefs and peer pressure.

ID: N95 mask that is white.

The mask has a circular shape.

White ear straps are attached to the mask, and there is a metal wire nose clip on the mask. There is black lettering on the bottom portion of the mask that states ‘N95’.

Figure 1. Relationship between political party and the usage of masks in the number of individuals surveryed ID: Graph displaying results of political party correlation to mask usage. The graph has Mask Usage on the x-axis and Number of Individuals on the Y-axis. The graph is a stacked bar plot that is split into mask usage and non-mask usage.The ‘Other’ political cateogry is pale blue and represents roughly 65 individuals that wore masks. The ‘Libretarian’ political category is light blue and represents roughly 10 individuals that wore masks. The ‘Do Not Identify’ political category is light purple and represents roughly 1 individual that did wear a mask. The ‘Democratic’ political party is dark purple and represents roughly 15 people that wore masks and 1 that does not.

Social distancing during the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic helps protect yourself and others from spreading or getting the virus. Social distancing decreases the opportunities of coming in contact with an infected person or a contaminated surface. By social distancing, we can halt the spread of the virus.

The critical distance needed for social distancing is 6 feet. The implementation of social distancing was associated with a decrease in COVID-19 incidences. If social distancing intervention is implemented between 80% to 100% infection rates were reduced dramatically4.

ID: Two red stick figures are pictures with black outlines. Both stick figures aer wearing blue masks with black outlines. There is a black horizontal line between the figures, and two black vertical lines on the end of the horizontal line.

The words 6 feet are between the figures.

98.9% of individuals that responded stated that they do practice social distancing from others. Out of the 98.9% of individuals, 15.1% stated that they practiced social distancing indoors, 14% stated that they practiced social distancing outdoors, and 71% stated that they practiced both. Out of the individuals that responded they did wear masks, 56.5% thought that when practicing social distancing indoors there should be more distance than 6 feet between individuals, 42.4% thought that 6 feet were a safe distance, and 1.1% thought less than 6 feet was a safe distance when indoors. 77.8% of the same individuals thought that 6 feet are safe to social distance from when outdoors, 13.3% of individuals didn’t think that 6 feet were safe to social distance from, and 8.9% thought that less than 6 feet is safe to social distance from when outside.

1.1% of individuals that responded did not practice social distancing. The lack of social distancing was attributed to a combination of personal choice and peer pressure.

Figure 2. Relationship between political party and social distancing practice in the number of individuals surveryed ID: Graph displaying results of political party correlation to social distance practice. The graph has Social Distance Practice on the x-axis and Number of Individuals on the y-axis. The graph is a stacked bar plot that is split into social distance practice and social distance non-practice. The ‘Other’ political cateogry is white and represents roughly 65 individuals that social distance and one that doesn’t. The ‘Libretarian’ political category is light grey and represents roughly 10 individuals that social distance. The ‘Do Not Identify’ political category is grey and represents roughly 1 individual that practiced social distancing. The ‘Democratic’ political party is dark grey and represents roughly 15 people that practiced social distancing.

The individuals that responded were predominantly Democratic (74.5%), followed by an Alternative Identification such as ‘leftist’ (20.2%), Do Not Identify (7.4%), Libertarian (2.1%), and Green Party (1.1%).

From the collected data, there were overwhelmingly significant results, so much that in fact, we were not able to conduct statistical analysis among the results.

Individuals asked about the safety of flying in the midst of the pandemic. The CDC states that in situations such as the TSA line and sitting next to others in the plane cabin might be dangerous due to lack of ability to social distance2. While this is true, the air circulation within the plane allows germs and viruses, such as COVID-19, to be filtered.

ID: A beige airplane is pictured with a blue stripe across the body. There are black window on the body, and the wings and tail of the plane have green and dark green detailing. There is a black propeller, as well as three black wheels that are coming from the bottom of the plane.

Another individual asked is COVID-19 dispropotionately affects races. No, COVID-19 does not target any particular race; however, due to disproportionate access to healthcare it has been affecting low income people of color at a higher rate12.

There were only 94 respondents to the study, and there are roughly 6,000 people that attend the Claremont Colleges. It is safe to say that this is not a representative study of the colleges and general conclusions should not be applied to the larger community. The individuals that respond predominantly respected and practiced COVID-19 public health guidelines, such as mask usage and social distancing in order to halt the spread of the virus.

Acknowledgments/Resources: Thank you to Pitzer’s Community Engagement Center & Profesor Budischak!

To learn more, visit the following resources!

1. CDC. (2020, May 13). Symptoms of Coronavirus. Cen

ters for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www. cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.

2. CDC. (2020, February 11). Travel during the COVID-19 Pan demic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https:// www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during covid19.

3. COVID, T. C., & Team, R. (2020). Severe Outcomes Among Pa

tients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-United

States, February 12-March 16, 2020. MMWR Morb Mor

tal Wkly Rep, 69(12), 343-346. https://doi.org/10.15585/ mmwr.mm6912e2 4. Daghriri, T., & Ozmen, O. (2020). Quantifying the Effects

of Social Distancing on the Spread of COVID-19. MedRxiv,

2020.09.19.20197996. https://doi org/10.1101/2020.09.19.20197996 5. Gutiérrez, P., & Seán Clarke. (2020, November 3). Covid world

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deaths? The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguard ian.com/world/2020/nov/03/covid-world-map-which-coun tries-have-the-most-coronavirus-cases-and-deaths 6. In His Own Words, Trump on the Coronavirus and Masks.

(2020, October 2). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes. com/2020/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-masks.html.

7. Kirby, J. (2020, November 3). Deborah Birx, top coronavirus

advisor, says the US is entering the “most deadly phase� of the

pandemic. Vox; Vox. https://www.vox. com/2020/11/3/21547415/coronavirus-covid-19-deborah-birx trump-warning-deadly-phase 8. Lyu, W., & Wehby, G. L. (2020). Community Use Of Face

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Of State Man dates In The US: Study examines impact on

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1419-1425. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818 9. Novel, C. P. E. R. E. (2020). The epidemiological characteristics

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(COVID-19) in China. Zhonghua liu xingbing xue za zhi=

Zhonghua liuxingbingxue zazhi, 41(2), 145. doi: 10.3760/cma.j. issn.0254-6450.2020.02.003 10. Timeline: What Trump Has Said And Done About The Corona

virus. (2020, April 21). NPR.Org. https://www.npr. org/2020/04/21/837348551/timeline-what-trump-has-said-and done-about-the-coronavirus 11. Umair Irfan, Belluz, J., & Resnick, B. (2020, November 5). US

reaches 116,000 new Covid-19 cases in a day, setting anoth

er record. Vox; Vox. https://www.vox. com/2020/11/5/21550852/covid-19-us-new-case-record-coro navirus-election-2020-surge 12. Weill, J. A., Stigler, M., Deschenes, O., & Springborn, M. R.

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