TY - JOUR AU - Arling, Gregory AU - Blaser, Matthew AU - Cailas, Michael AU - Canar, John AU - Cooper, Brian AU - Geraci, Peter AU - Osiecki, Kristin AU - Sambanis, Apostolis PY - 2020/12/10 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - A second wave of COVID-19 in Cook County: What lessons can be applied? JF - Online Journal of Public Health Informatics JA - OJPHI VL - 12 IS - 2 SE - Editorial DO - 10.5210/ojphi.v12i2.11506 UR - https://ojphi.org/ojs/index.php/ojphi/article/view/11506 SP - AB - <p>During the ongoing public health crisis, many agencies are reporting COVID-19 health outcome information based on the overall population. This practice can lead to misleading results and underestimation of high risk areas. To gain a better understanding of spatial and temporal distribution of COVID-19 deaths; the long term care facility (LTCF) and household population (HP) deaths must be used. This approach allows us to better discern high risk areas and provides policy makers with reliable information for community engagement and mitigation strategies. By focusing on high-risk LTCFs and residential areas, protective measures can be implemented to minimize COVID-19 spread and subsequent mortality. &nbsp;These areas should be a high priority target when COVID-19 vaccines become available.</p> ER -