Spectrum: UC finds rural areas face unique threat from COVID-19
UC releases a new public health policy report on coronavirus in rural America
Spectrum TV talked to the University of Cincinnati about its latest public health policy report about coronavirus in rural America.
Coronavirus infections are hitting rural parts of the United States previously spared, requiring a new approach to battling the pandemic, a multidisciplinary team of UC researchers said.
UC's Geospatial Health Advising Group found that rural counties in high-infection states face higher mortality rates than cities.
Spectrum spoke with UC assistant professor of geography Diego Cuadros about UC's analysis.
"We were interested in trying to identify the factors that were associated with higher mortality risk linked to COVID-19 in the entire country. So, we conducted this analysis, trying to find those risk factors,” Cuadros told Spectrum TV.
The UC Geospatial Health Advising Group is a collaboration of health, geography and statistical modeling experts from the UC College of Pharmacy and the UC College of Arts and Sciences.
“We are seeing a very big spread of infection in the rural areas, compared to the open areas, especially in rural areas are the ones who are experiencing a high incidence of infection and also high mortality — we were seeing a reduction of the mortality rate in most part of the country but in these particular (rural) areas, their mortality is not is not declining, it's actually increasing,” Cuadros said.
Featured image at top: UC's Geospatial Health Advising Group warns that rural America faces a unique risk from the coronavirus pandemic. Photo/Brittney Burnett/Unsplash
UC assistant professor Diego Cuadros directs UC's Health Geography and Disease Modeling Lab in the UC College of Arts and Sciences. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Creative + Brand
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.