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Monday, February 14, 2022

COVID Cases By Income Level

At first glance this was surprising to me--I thought it should be the opposite, with the highest incomes having the lowest COVID case counts and vice versa, since they have the best access to vaccines, therapeutics, doctors, etc. But after thinking about these data I guess it's about (at least) two factors.
  1. Those with higher incomes travel more and are more exposed to a wider group and variety of others as they go about their daily business, while the poor stay primarily in their local environment. (But then wouldn't COVID easily burn through those poor, local areas and essentially infect everyone?)
  2. Data collection and reporting are much better in wealthy areas than in poverty-stricken areas, so the results are biased towards counting cases among the wealthy, etc. down through the various income levels.
Any other suggestions?
 

13 comments:

  1. Maybe it is access to testing, especially if there is a cost involved? In UK, everyone has access to free tests and companies will also supply free testing. What is the situation in the US?

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  2. Perhaps yes. In the US I've never been within a light-year of a COVID test, as far as I've been able to ascertain.

    Seriously, I have no idea how to even get one. I guess you go to a pharmacy?

    Testing here isn't mentioned much. It's not regular. I guess it's free but wouldn't be surprised if it's not if you don't have insurance. When Omicron hit the Biden administration was caught completely flat-footed, that is, they hadn't at all made plans to get the required test kits out fast.

    It's rather a mess. Wonder why the US has one of the higher death rates in the world? It's not just the anti-vax idiots.

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-deaths-daily-vs-total-per-million?country=~USA

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  3. In the UK you can get lateral flow tests free through the post, ordered from a government website.

    They are also available free from most pharmacies.

    We are encouraged to use them if we show cough or cold symptoms or as a precaution before attending social events or travelling by air.

    I started to show cold symptoms on Saturday and was due to go back to work as a museum guide today. A precautionary test this morning came up positive, so I'm now self-isolating.

    We have a Test and Trace system. The same website allows us to report a positive test and warn recent close contacts who may be at risk.

    We have our quota of eejits who say "Nobody tells me what to do!", but the system works for most people most of the time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. An interesting comparison of Canada and the USA.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-60380317

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  5. Are you sure these results are limited to the USA?

    My guess is that these are global results. Poorer countries may have less access to testing.

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  6. Positive tests is likely a very poor way of knowing who gets covid. A better measure would be desths or even hospitalizations.

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  7. The same tool can be used to show deaths.

    The results are largely the same. High income dies at a much higher rate. But is that true?

    Possibly. Poorer countries may have a younger population that's more resilient. On the other hand, they may do a poorer job of tracking, so maybe the data isn't very useful.

    Those are my guesses.

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  8. Go to "sources" on the graphic. It is global data.

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  9. Off topic, but consider this.

    https://www.apk-inform.com/en/news/1524576

    Russian grain exports are down by 1/3 on last year. Could Russia be planning to reclaim the old USSRs main grain-producing region in the Ukraine?

    Up to now I've been thinking that the troop build-up was a bluff intended to create a high profile dialogue over NATO. Now I've found a good strategic reason for an invasion, I am wondering if the threat is real.

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  10. Entropic man said...
    In the UK you can get lateral flow tests free through the post,

    I don't even know what a "lateral flow test" means.

    Maybe I'm dumb. Or maybe that's how poor testing is here in the US.

    Probably some of both. I've never had a need to know what "lateral flow test" means because testing just isn't an option here. That's how bad it is.

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  11. Entropic, look at the longer trend:
    https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Wheat-Production-Wheat-Imports-and-Exports-of-Russia-between-1987-and-2019-in-million_fig1_341902327
    Russia is not running out of wheat.

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  12. Lateral flow tests are what you get when you mix monoclonal antibodies and chromatography.

    https://www.abingdonhealth.com/services/what-is-lateral-flow-immunoassay/

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  13. How to do a lateral flow test.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-56326456

    Their big advantage is that in the UK we have become self-policing. We can test ourselves and isolate ourselves as necessary.

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