The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, now nearing its third deadly year, is typically measured in numbers of deaths, infections, and patients disabled by lingering symptoms. Less apparent are the consequences of the upheaval brought on by the pandemic, as people struggle to cope with a wide range of stressors such as job loss, school disruptions, isolation, and fear.
These, in turn, have worsened existing societal ills such as workplace violence. Health care workers, for example, have experienced a rise in violent behavior by patients and others. A survey by National Nurses United (NNU) found that from 2017 to 2019, about 62% of nurses surveyed reported having been verbally threatened, and nearly 27% said they were slapped, punched, or kicked. A subsequent NNU study conducted nine months into the pandemic in November 2020 found increased violence reported by about 20% of the 15,000 nurses surveyed.
Also on the rise is intimate partner violence, with stressors associated with the pandemic-including loss of income and food and housing insecurity-adding to the risk and frequency of abuse. And beyond home and workplace is a nationwide elevated threat from violent extremists, both individuals and organized groups, according to a March 2021 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The extremists' motives for violence stem from a range of ideologies and strongly held biases, such as those against racial groups or immigrants, as well as anger over contentious public issues such as perceived government overreach, allegations of election fraud, abortion, environmental degradation, COVID-19-related restrictions, and various conspiracy theories.
Not surprisingly, given the divisive social climate, incidents of gun violence have increased, especially mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonpartisan research group. Defined as an incident in which a minimum of four people-excluding the shooter-are injured or killed by gunfire, mass shootings so far in 2021 total 640, compared to 269 in 2014.
For overall gun violence, 2020 was one of the deadliest years in the United States: 43,635 people killed (with roughly 24,000 of these by suicide) and 39,505 injured by gunfire. Last year, from January 1 to November 24, 2021, data show that 40,226 people died from gun violence (including 21,648 by suicide) and another 36,700 were injured. Not surprisingly, the surge in gun-related deaths and injuries correlated with increased firearm sales. According to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which has tracked background checks for gun sales since 1998, weekly background check totals consistently topped 1 million in 2020 and reached a record 1.2 million during one week in March 2021.
And, as nurses have tallied COVID-19's impact on violence in health care settings, a recent study in Scientific Reports found a 30% higher risk of gun violence in a 13-month period during the pandemic compared with a 13-month period before the pandemic. The researchers associated this rise with increased firearm sales and the psychological stress from COVID-19.
The uptick in pandemic-related psychological stress was also documented by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), which found that about four in 10 U.S. adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, up from one in 10 prior to the pandemic. Another KFF poll conducted in July 2020 found that about 36% of participants had trouble sleeping, 32% said they had eating difficulties, 12% reported an increase in alcohol consumption or substance use, and 12% said their chronic conditions were worsening due to worries related to the coronavirus.-Dalia Sofer