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Missouri: 2-1-1 calls increasing in high-COVID counties

In Missouri, counties with higher rates of COVID-19 infection have seen larger increases in calls for help to 2-1-1. We classified each county’s COVID rate as high or low, using data from the New York Times; counties having more than 3,400 cases per 100,000 population were classified as “high” (red bars on chart below) and counties at or below that rate were classified as “low” (blue bars). We then examined 175,378 requests received by 2-1-1 from all counties in Missouri during 2020, and determined which counties have experienced the largest percentage increases from pre- to post-COVID-19. The top 10 counties experiencing the largest increases in 2-1-1 requests from pre- to post-COVID-19 all had high COVID-19 rates. Mouse over each bar to see average daily requests pre- and post-COVID. In analyses, pre-COVID-19 dates were January 1 to March 11, and post-COVID dates were March 12 to November 8. Because many Missouri counties have extremely low call volume to 2-1-1, we only included those that had generated an average of 0.5 requests or more during the pre-COVID period to assure stability of the data. 2-1-1 request data are from 2-1-1 Counts, a daily tracking system of community needs used in Missouri and 34 other states. COVID rate data were downloaded on November 12.

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