Work-related connectivity between Boston Logan international airport and urban communities with high social vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Airports may be high-risk sites for the spread of infectious diseases, including novel respiratory pathogens. While many studies have evaluated the higher burden of COVID-19 among essential workers, few studies have specifically analyzed the links between airport workers and surrounding communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used GPS-derived mobility data to estimate work- and travel-related visits from approximately 5000 Boston-area census block groups to Logan International Airport between January 2020 and August 2021. We stratified origin census block groups by their census tract-level Social Vulnerability Index and compared temporal trends and work-related airport visits across Social Vulnerability Index quartiles. Work-related visits to Boston Logan International Airport were more likely to originate from socially vulnerable communities (i.e., in the highest Social Vulnerability Index quartile), including cities that experienced disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infection early during the COVID-19 pandemic (East Boston, Revere and Chelsea, Massachusetts). These differences persisted across the duration of the observation period. Our findings highlight higher social vulnerability and strong work-related mobility connections with an international travel hub as important overlapping risk factors in these urban communities. Protecting airport workers and their home communities from imported infectious diseases merits further attention as a public health priority.

Keywords: COVID-19; Connectivity; Mobility; Social vulnerability.

Fig. 1

Estimated number of work-related trips to Boston Logan Airport by origin census tract Social Vulnerability Index. (A) Total work-related trips (January 2020 - August 2021) originating from census tracts in the lowest Social Vulnerability Index quartile (least vulnerable). (B) Total work-related trips originating from census tracts in the highest Social Vulnerability Index quartile (most vulnerable). Circle shows a 7.5 mile radius around Boston Logan Airport. (C) Comparison of census tract-level total work-related trips (log-transformed y-axis) by Social Vulnerability Index quartile. Each point represents a unique census tract. P-values comparing trip totals by Social Vulnerability Index quartile were calculated using a one-sided t-test. Census tracts in (A) and (B), and points in (C) are colored according to the total number of work-related trips