Back in early April, when the coronavirus pandemic was rapidly expanding in the US, some observers had the impression it would act as a kind of leveler. A study published on April 22 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) looked at the profiles of 5,700 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in New York City. Over 40% were Medicare patients, meaning age 65 or older and thus at high risk of serious infections, while more than 20% were covered by Medicaid, which is a proxy for low income. A map published by the city summarizes the picture well: The areas with the most Covid-19 cases are by and large the ones where incomes are lower and minority populations are larger, or both. “For us, this was really to give the readers asense of what [coronavirus] patients look like, and what are the most common co-morbidities: hypertension, diabetes, obesity,” she told Quartz. “It is established that health is dependent on socioeconomic factors,” said Gabriela Oates, a professor at the school of medicine of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. But health behaviors, too, are essentially a function of privilege:Unfavorable ones, such as smoking or eating less fruit and vegetables than recommended, or leading a sedentary lifestyle, are very much dependent on one’s position in society.
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