Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has had far-reaching consequences in the country that go beyond the spread of the disease itself and efforts to quarantine it, including political, cultural, and social implications.

These orders typically restricted any public "gatherings" and mandated the closure of entertainment and recreation venues (including bars, casinos, fitness facilities, theaters), dine-in restaurants (although take-out and delivery service could still be offered), and other "non-essential" retail businesses.

[7] These orders encouraged residents to stay home as much as possible unless they were conducting an essential business (such as grocery shopping or medical care for themselves or family members), recreational exercise, or a job that cannot be performed via remote work.

[11] The New York Times said, "There is, however, a widespread consensus among economists and public health experts that lifting the restrictions would impose huge costs in additional lives lost to the virus—and deliver little lasting benefit to the economy.

[36] Many higher educational institutions canceled classes and closed dormitories in response to the outbreak, including all members of the Ivy League,[37] and many other public and private universities across the country.

[39] Due to the disruption to the academic year caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education approved a waiver process, allowing states to opt-out of standardized testing required under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Parental choices across race and income posed risk of increased segregation, disparate outcomes, growing inequity, and future public disinvestment in a longer-term post-COVID landscape.

[50] The American Public Transportation Association issued a request for $13 billion in emergency funding from the federal government to cover lost revenue and other expenses incurred by the pandemic.

The pandemic put tremendous strain on the American incarceration system due to crowds of vulnerable inmates and limited access to medical care.

The harms perpetrated by American detention facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionately affected racial minorities—mostly Black and Hispanic people—who are incarcerated at as much as 5 times the rate of white people.

[58] To alleviate some of the pressures of associated with stringent health mandates, and in response to various public criticisms, some jurisdictions released a number of prisoners who are particularly vulnerable to infection or, alternatively, halted the intake of new inmates who would have been detained for technical offenses.

On December 21, 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland’s DOJ issued a memo suggesting that many of those who had been reassigned to “home confinement” during the pandemic would not be required to return to a correctional facility to finish their sentences “’when the emergency period ends’”.

[75] In February 2022, the Department of Homeland Security announced changes to the Public Charge Rule that will not consider non-cash benefits when determining inadmissible status for entry or permanent residence.

During the pandemic and under the Trump administration, the CDC invoked Title 42, an immigration policy allowing federal authorities to deny migrants’ asylum in the event of an imminent threat to public health.

[92] Additionally, the perpetration of discrimination via online sources, social media, and more allowed hate crimes to become increasingly “common, uncontrolled and unreported.”[92] These actions had immense and detrimental impacts to the safety, mental health, and security of the victims, as well as growing feelings of isolation and fear.

For example, a survey conducted in San Francisco found that only 3% of Asian-American residents had been tested for COVID-19, many of whom cited fears of racism and stigma as major contributors to their avoidance of such resources.

To address the disparities faced by the Asian American community, President Joe Biden issued an executive order to ban terminology such as “china virus” and “kung flu” that perpetuate harmful stereotypes and fuel fear-based discrimination.

The act would have also required the CDC to create a hotline staffed with trained interpreters who can share information on the virus and vaccines to people with limited English proficiency.

Amid school closures, families grappled with layered issues of virus risk, income loss, grief, food insecurity, unhealthy environments, learning delay, isolation, lack of information, and more.

[139] On March 12, a Post Malone concert at Denver's Pepsi Center proceeded as scheduled, drawing a sellout-crowd of 20,000, likely the largest enclosed gathering in the U.S. before widespread lockdowns.

[141] The annual festival, which attracted some 125,000 people over two consecutive weekends, was insured only in the event of a force majeure cancellation such as one ordered by local or state government officials.

[147] Several alt weekly newspapers in affected metropolitan areas, including The Stranger in Seattle and Austin Chronicle, announced layoffs and funding drives due to lost revenue.

[149] Most U.S. cinema chains, were allowed to continue operating, reduced the seating capacity of each show time by half to minimize the risk of spreading the virus between patrons.

[150] Audience limits, as well as mandatory and voluntary closure of cinemas in some areas, led to the lowest total North American box office sales since October 1998.

[155][156] News programs and most talk shows largely remained on-air, but with changes to their production to incorporate coverage of the pandemic, and adhere to CDC guidelines on physical distancing and the encouragement of remote work.

[165] WarnerMedia reported that HBO Now saw a spike in usage, and the most viewed titles included documentary Ebola: The Doctors' Story and the 2011 film Contagion for their resonance with the pandemic.

[197] Evangelical college Liberty University of Lynchburg, Virginia, moved its classes online but called its 5,000 back to campus despite Governor Ralph Northam's order to close all non-essential businesses.

"[199] In the state of Kansas, the Democratic governor, Laura Kelly responded to a prime source of spread of the disease by banning religious services attended by more than 10 people.

"[207] In 2022, the CDC reported that adolescents (high school students) were significantly impacted by "adverse childhood experiences" which took place during the pandemic, in particular transition to poor mental health and suicide attempts.

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, included "abuse, neglect, witnessing violence, or having a family member attempt or die by suicide" and were experienced by about three-quarters of adolescents in the United States.