The Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19

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2022-04-14

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Houston, the 4th largest city in the U.S., is a frontrunner in health-related inequities in this country. When observing the better health outcomes in the outer zip codes of the city compared to the worse health outcomes in inner-city zip codes, the difference can be attributed to the socioeconomic factors of the individuals in these zip codes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of these disparities were put on center stage. As of 2/27/2022, there are a total of 869,964 cases, which is about double the amount in 8/31/2021 when there were a total 447,115 cases. In fact, this increase in the number of cases makes this topic more prevalent. We plan to take into account the following socioeconomic factors: race, income, and zip code to show the impact on the COVID-19 cases in Harris County from August 2021 to February 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these inequities far more evident. Socioeconomic factors, that is, an individual’s social and economic standing, have a profound effect on their health. The highest COVID-19 infection rates were found to be those of low income, African Americans and Hispanics, and those who live in inner-city zip codes. Using this information, we will be able to come up with a map that would illustrate the most at-risk zip codes for infection based on socioeconomic factors, which would help us not only for COVID-19 but also for understanding future outbreaks.

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