April Heyward presented her academic research titled "A Comparative Policy Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States and the United Kingdom" at the 2021 ASPA (American Society for Public Administration) Annual Conference.

1. A Comparative Policy Response to the COVID-19
Pandemic in the
United States and the United Kingdom
April Heyward
3rd Year Doctor of Public Administration Student
Valdosta State University
E: april.heyward@outlook.com
W: www.aprilheyward.com
Twitter: @heyward_april
2021 ASPA Annual Conference
Thursday, April 15, 2021

2. Study Overview

3.  Study Title – “A Data Science and Machine Learning Approach to Comparative
COVID-19 Policy Responses”
 The initial study focus of the quantitative study is focusing on the policy
responses employed by the United States and the United Kingdom and the
correlation of policy responses to the state of COVID-19 in each country.
 It should be noted the policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the
United States is segmented by the Federal government’s response and the state
and local government’s response as the policy responses varying (e.g.,
response timeline, prevention, risk management, intervention).
 The primary focus will be the Federal government’s response to the
pandemic.
Study Overview

4. 1. What can explain the variation in policy responses to the COVID-19
pandemic?
2. What are health and economic policy responses employed by the United
States and the United Kingdom?
3. How does Data Science and Machine Learning inform Public Policy about
the COVID-19 pandemic?
Study Research Questions

5. COVID-19 Pandemic Background

6.  An unprecedented infectious disease emerged in late 2019.
 Expanded at an almost uncontrollable rapid pace globally.
 The World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the infectious disease
as a new category of the Coronavirus disease.
 COVID-19 was classified as a pandemic in March 2020 due to the exponential
growth in disease transmissions, cases, and deaths around the world (Lee et
al., 2020; Singer, 2020).
COVID-19 Pandemic Background

7.  Countries were uniformly apprised of the pandemic status but there were
varying response times and reactions which contributed to the state of COVID-
19.
 Numerous complexities influenced policy response approaches to include:
 Science versus Politics
 Economy versus Public Health
 Media versus Public Health
 Conspiracy Theories
 Mixed Signals
 Infrastructure Challenges
 Nation versus Subnation Relations
Comparative COVID-19 Policy Response Background

8. Comparative COVID-19
Policy Response

9.  Initial case confirmation was late January 2020
 Initial death was the end of February 2020
 Cases reached the 1,000 mark in mid-March 2020
 Deaths reached the 1,000 mark for deaths by late March 2020
 Ranked as one of the highest in terms of cases and deaths as compared to
other countries.
United States COVID-19 Pandemic Response

10. United States was subject to significant domestic and international criticism for
its:
 Response
 Testing Efforts
 Data Inconsistency
 Conspiracy Theories
 Mixed Signals
 Resource Production and Distribution
 Domestic and International Relations (Bergquist et al, 2020; Gomez-Ochoa
and Franco, 2020; Romer and Jamieson, 2020; Salvador-Carulla et al., 2020)
United States COVID-19 Pandemic Response

11.  CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act – $2.2 Trillion
 PPPHCEA (Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement) Act -
$484 Billion
 CPRSA (Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental
Appropriations) Act - $8.3 Billion
 FFCRA (Families First Coronavirus Response) Act
 American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 - $1.9 Trillion
United States COVID-19 Pandemic Interventions

12.  Initial case confirmation was the end of January 2020
 Initial death in early March 2020
 Cases reached the 1,000 mark in mid-March 2020
 Deaths reached the 1,000 mark for deaths by late March 2020
United Kingdom COVID-19 Pandemic Response

13.  United Kingdom’s response is inclusive of England, Scotland, Wales, and
Northern Ireland
 Better positioned in the pandemic response as compared to the United States
as prevention and risk management measures were employed earlier.
 Total number of cases and deaths are significantly less the then United States
United Kingdom COVID-19 Pandemic Response

14.  United Kingdom employed greater than 148 measures and interventions to
include health, economic, and technological for risk reduction and control
(Flynn et al., 2020)
 Administered grants and loans to business entities.
 Established an emergency fund for the National Health Service
 Free health care access for permanent residents via the National Health
Service which is more conducive to combatting COVID-19
 Nationwide testing employed
United Kingdom COVID-19 Pandemic Interventions

15.  State of Emergency Declarations
 Stay-at-Home Orders
 Social Distancing
 Temporarily Ceasing Non-Critical Business Operations
 Wear a Mask Mandates
 K-12 School In Person Instruction Suspension
 Re-establishing Non-Critical Business Operations
Other Policy Responses of the United States and United Kingdom

16. American Rescue Plan
Sentiment Analysis

17.  Proposed January 14, 2021
 US House of Representatives started working on the budget resolution on
February 2, 2021
 Introduced in the U.S. House on February 24, 2021
 Passed the U.S. House on February 27, 2021
 Passed the U.S. Senate on March 6, 2021
 U.S. House Agreed to the U.S. Senate Amendment on March 10, 2021
 Signed into law by President Joseph Biden on March 11, 2021
 IRS started processing direct payments on March 12, 2021
American Rescue Plan Act Timeline

19. Extraction Date Twitter Search Number of Tweets Extracted
February 15,
2021
#stimuluschecks 1,913
February 15,
2021
“Stimulus Checks” 2,970
February 15,
2021
#COVID-19 17,991
February 16,
2021
“COVID-19” 17,997
February 16,
2021
#SocialDistancing 4,661
February 16,
2021
“Social Distancing” 18,000
February 16, #Coronavirus 17,916
Twitter Data Extraction

20. Extraction Date Twitter Search Number of Tweets Extracted
February 16,
2021
#American Rescue Plan 1,321
February 16,
2021
“American Rescue Plan” 3,031
February 16,
2021
#WearAMask 13,679
February 16,
2021
“WearAMask” 17,929
February 17,
2021
“COVID-19 Vaccine” 17,996
March 10, 2021 #stimuluschecks 2,571
March 10, 2021 “Stimulus Checks” 9,990
March 10, 2021 #AmericanRescuePlan 7,982
Twitter Data Extraction

21. Extraction Date Twitter Search Number of Tweets Extracted
March 10, 2021 “American Rescue Plan” 17,967
March 18, 2021 #stimuluschecks 9,024
March 18, 2021 “Stimulus Checks” 9,946
March 18, 2021 #AmericanRescuePlan 7,984
March 18, 2021 “American Rescue Plan” 17,999
March 24, 2021 #stimuluschecks 4,133
March 24, 2021 “Stimulus Checks” 13,552
Twitter Data Extraction

28. References
 Bergquist, S., Otten, T., Sarich, N. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic in the United
States. Health Policy and Technology, 9(4), 623-638.
 Flynn, D., Moloney, E., Bhattarai, N., Scott, J., Breckons, M. (2020). COVID-19
Pandemic in the United Kingdom. Health Policy and Technology, 9(4), 673-
691.
 Gomez-Ochoa, S., Franco, O. (2020). COVID-19: Facts and Failures, A Tale of
Two Worlds. European Journal of Epidemiology, 35(11), 991-994.
 Lee, D., May, N., Tritter, J., Paolucci, F. (2020). The COVID-19 Pandemic:
Global Health Policy and Technology Responses in the Making. Health
Policy and Technology, 9(4), 397-398.

29. References
 Nicola, M., Sohrabi, C., Mathew, G., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Griffin, M., Agha,
M., Agha, R. (2020). Health Policy and Leadership Models During the COVID-
19 Pandemic: A Review. International Journal of Surgery, 81, 122-129.
Romer, D., Jamieson, K. (2020). Conspiracy Theories as Barriers to
Controlling the Spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. Social Science and Medicine,
263, 1-8.
 Salvador-Carulla, L., Rosenberg, S., Mendoza, J., Tabatabaei-Jafari, H.,
Pandemic-Mental Health International Network (2020). Rapid Response to
Crisis: Health System Lessons From the Active Period of COVID-19. Health
Policy and Technology, 9(4), 578-586.
 Singer, D. (2020). Clinical and Health Policy Challenges in Responding to
the COVID-19 Pandemic. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 96(1137), 373-374.

30. April Heyward
E: april.heyward@outlook.com
W: www.aprilheyward.com
Twitter: @heyward_april
Contact Information