Why Are There COVID-19 Hot Spots

For John, BLUF:  My working theory is that culture is a factor in the spread of Winnie the Flue.  When I say cultural, I am talking about the social mores that are passed on from parents to children.  As in Europe, in the United States these generally acceptable ways of action vary from place to place, as does the rates of COVID-19 infection and death.  But, this is little examined, except perhaps by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and she does not seem to get it in toto.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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"Sickest Part Of A Sick America":  The Region Where Health Officials Fear The Worst COVID-19 Devastation

From Zero Hedge, by Analyst Tyler Durden, 7 April 2020.  Do you think that is his real name?

Here is the lede plus three:

After New Orleans last month emerged as the United States' new southern epicenter for the coronavirus pandemic, threatening other states across the region, a review in Bloomberg Law of how the South as already "the sickest part of America" could be hit hardest before the crisis eventually wanes paints a very bleak picture.

Home to the highest rates of obesity, hypertension, heart attacks, and strokes, combined with expansive rural and impoverished areas that have poor health care access, the South is especially vulnerable for a "virus that is particularly lethal for people with underlying health conditions," according to the report.

“Covid-19 is going to be a disaster in the Southeast,” Aaron Milstone, a Tennessee pulmonologist, told Bloomberg Law.  “We’ll see higher morbidity, which is getting sick from the virus, and higher mortality, which is dying from the virus.”

Further, the report reads, "Four of the five states with the highest diabetes rates are in the South.  And eight didn’t expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, leaving thousands of families without access to routine care, even as financially troubled rural hospitals wither away."

Here is how The Old Gray Lady describes the situation:

“This is a call-to-action moment for all of us,” said Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Chicago, who announced statistics of the outbreak in her city this week.  African-Americans account for more than half of those who have tested positive and 72 percent of virus-related fatalities in Chicago, even though they make up a little less than a third of the population.

“Those numbers take your breath away, they really do,” said Ms. Lightfoot, who is the city’s first black woman elected as mayor.  She added in an interview that the statistics were “among the most shocking things I think I’ve seen as mayor.”

In Illinois, 43 percent of people who have died from the disease and 28 percent of those who have tested positive are African-Americans, a group that makes up just 15 percent of the state’s population.  African-Americans, who account for a third of positive tests in Michigan, represent 40 percent of deaths in that state even though they make up 14 percent of the population.  In Louisiana, about 70 percent of the people who have died are black, though only a third of that state’s population is.

Even Boston's member of the House Squad, Representative Ayanna Pressley is raising the flag on this disproportionate impact on the Black and Hispanic communities.

Before we lock in on why there is this disparity, we need to understand the why.  It could be poorer overall health of minority groups.  But then why?  Lack of medical services or health habits over time?  Or is it something to do with other factors in how minority communities live, perhaps not assimilating with the larger Caucasian population?  One thing to keep in mind is that crying racism is not the same as adopting useful life styles, adopting them even if they are a little strange or uncomfortable.

As a stark example of how different actions can achieve different results, from Dr. Tara O and the East Asia Research Center♠ we have "A Tale of Two Models: Taiwan and South Korea in the Handling of the Coronavirus Pandemic - East Asia Research Center".  Taiwan did two things differently from South Korea.  One was banning of travel between Mainland China and Taiwan.  The other was stopping the export of masks and distributing them to the population.  South Korea continued shipping of masks.  One wonders if mask wear was being avoided in US hot spots?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  The founder of the Center is Dr. Tara O.  She has worked at the Pentagon and the Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command as a U.S. Air Force officer focusing on East Asia issues.  Her research areas include national security, alliance, human rights in North Korea, defectors, unification, and political and economic systems.