COVID-19 in Puerto Rico: Preliminary observations on social distancing and societal response toward a novel health stressor.

ABSTRACT

Countries worldwide are making wide-ranging attempts to stymie the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and most of their efforts depend on the financial, structural, and social resources available. Given the increase in documented cases of COVID-19 in Puerto Rico, the extension of an aggressive and restrictive quarantine has been the correct step to slow down the potential contagion. Nevertheless, in this article, we discuss additional concrete actions that should be considered. This unprecedented scenario provides us the opportunity to rethink our limited resources based on a socioecological perspective, with the aim of creating efficiency and reducing the inequities that could accompany the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).