A County-Level COVID-19 Response

ABSTRACT

Accurate COVID-19 information has seemed contradictory and inconvenient to find since the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020. There are many sources that could be blamed for this, including the newspapers, Facebook, or the government itself at federal or even county levels. But where does the average user stand in their ability to access and understand accurate, relevant information relating to COVID-19? We explored twelve county websites picked from six states across the country—Washington, New York, Nevada, Kansas, Louisiana, and Ohio—to see how effective and accessible information at the county-level response differs between Democrat and Republican-leaning states, when those counties acted, and how the information compares regarding lockdowns, vaccines, and quality-of-life documents (such as unemployment forms and aid) during the pandemic. For a birds-eye view of this government information problem, we have chosen to highlight five of these sites to provide a brief look at our findings, which includes observations on population size, political leanings, and information availability and accessibility. [ FROM AUTHOR]