VIRUS: KILLING WHO, WHERE?

Two policy analysts at the Heritage Foundation have concluded, “Just 1% of U.S. counties have had nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths.”
In an article published on 22 September, the analysts, Drew Gonshorowski and Norbert Michel, point out that focusing on infection rates for specific counties, rather than just states in general, gives a clearer picture of just how concentrated the spread has been in small geographic clusters.
Bringing the latest data into focus, the article states:

“As of Sept. 15, the 30 counties with the most COVID-19 deaths accounted for 26% of all the cases in the U.S. and 40% of all deaths, much greater than those counties’ share of the population (18.4%).

That is, just 1% of the counties in the U.S., representing just over 18% of the population, are responsible for almost half of the country’s COVID-19 deaths.”

Note: There are 3,141 counties in the U.S.
Focusing in even more closely, the analysts write:

“The five counties with the most COVID-19 deaths represent just 0.2% of all counties, but they account for 16% of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., nearly three times their population share. These five counties are Kings County, NY; Queens County, NY; Los Angeles County; Cook County, Illinois; and Bronx County, NY.”

Turning the focus the other way, the analysts provide data showing the majority of counties across the country account for only a small amount of total deaths from the virus:

“As of Sept. 15, 60.6% of all counties are reporting 10 or fewer deaths. These counties represent 13.1% of the population, and account for only 2.7% of total COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.”

New York City Tips the Scales
The analysts cite just how dramatically the high coronavirus death rate in New York City has skewed the overall picture in the U.S: “In fact, New York City has exerted an outsized influence on the national COVID-19-related death rate. Removing New York City’s deaths moves the U.S. from eighth place in the world in deaths per million to 13th place.”
Making the case even stronger that NYC’s outsized death rate from the virus had a huge impact on how the virus was perceived nationally, the article states, “The New York City metropolitan statistical area’s death rate is more than triple those of Phoenix and Miami – two cities that have recorded higher rates of infection than New York. It is four and a half times that of Los Angeles and nearly six times that of Houston.”
A Closer Look: New York City Lockdown Didn’t Work
In addition to making the claim that NYC in particular, and a small number of other counties in general, are responsible for a disproportionate amount of coronavirus deaths in the U.S., the report provides a link to another Heritage Foundation analysis published on 17 September, titled, “COVID-19: Still a New York Story.”
This report makes the case that the mainstream media were wrong in extolling the skillful managing of the outbreak in NYC through harsh lockdowns and strong enforcement of rules.
This report was co-authored by Norbert Michel along with Doug Badger, Visiting Fellow in Domestic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, which concluded, “While New York City was largely locked down until late July, its population-adjusted death rate remains far worse than any other place in the nation.”
In a summary of the findings, the analysts write, “The prevailing narrative about the COVID-19 pandemic is that New York and the Northeast were especially hard hit during the spring but the lockdown orders and diligent social distancing subdued the contagion.”
They conclude, “Moreover, a growing body of research suggests that government lockdowns have only a marginal effect on affecting behavior that facilitates viral transmission.”
TRENDPOST: We have continually reported in the Trends Journal about the ineffectiveness of lockdowns, yet they persist and are generally accepted by both the public and politicians.
Considering who is dying, where, and why, the new rounds of restrictions being placed on young people (ex. not allowing them to party) and the rules of mask wearing, temperature checks, virus tests, social distancing, contact tracing, etc., being imposed on those attending schools from kindergarten to PhDs, is not only unscientific, it is unwarranted and mentally destructive.