Focus-19

Tourist towns hurt by COVID

COVID-19 has been economically devastating to the leisure and hospitality industries and many people who work in them. Popular tourist destinations such as Las Vegas, NV, Atlantic City, NJ and Myrtle Beach, SC have seen dramatic increases in 2-1-1 calls since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. However, the pattern of calls and common requests vary between cities. In Las Vegas, 2-1-1 requests were highest in the week after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and have fallen in the weeks since, though not returned to pre-COVID levels. Requests to 2-1-1 for healthcare assistance (which includes COVID-19 calls) were higher in Las Vegas than in the other two cities. In Atlantic City, requests began increasing steadily in the weeks after the pandemic and peaked during the week of May 10th. Requests for housing assistance such as rent and mortgage payments seem to be driving the overall increase in calls, although requests for employment assistance also increased in recent weeks. In Myrtle Beach, requests to 2-1-1 began increasing earlier than in the other two cities but returned to pre-COVID levels more quickly. In its peak week, requests for food assistance and utility assistance had the largest increases. Analysis includes 2-1-1 requests for employment, food, healthcare, housing and utilities from ZIP codes in Las Vegas, NV, Atlantic City, NJ and Myrtle Beach, SC from January 5 – May 30, 2020. Mouse over the corresponding colors in the bars below to see the number of requests in each category.

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