The U.S. COVID-19 County Policy Database

It is increasingly recognized that policies have
played a role in both alleviating and exacerbating the health and economic
consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet there has been limited work to
systematically evaluate the substantial variation in local COVID-19-related
policies in the U.S. The
objective of the U.S. COVID-19 County Policy (UCCP) Database is to systematically
gather, characterize, and assess variation in U.S. county-level
COVID-19-related policies. The current data upload represents the first wave of data collection, which includes data on over 20 policies gathered across 171 counties in 7 states during January-March 2021. These include county-level
COVID-19-related policies within 3 policy domains that are likely to affect a
variety of health outcomes: (1) containment/closure, (2) economic support, and
(3) public health. In ongoing work, we are
conducting retrospective longitudinal weekly data collection for the period
2020-2021 from a larger swath of 300+ U.S. counties in all 50 states and Washington
D.C. The current database will be updated with new data
as it becomes available, in late 2023 or early 2024.<br><br>Researchers who use this database for their studies should acknowledge the funders below in all publications.