The pandemic has laid bare deep divisions, but it’s not too late to change course
COVID-19 has not been an equal opportunity virus: it goes after people in poor health and those whose daily lives expose them to greater contact with others. And this means it goes disproportionately after the poor, especially in poor countries and in advanced economies like the United States where access to health care is not guaranteed. One of the reasons the United States has been afflicted with the highest number of cases and deaths (at least as this goes to press) is because it has among the poorest average health standards of major developed economies, exemplified by low life expectancy (lower now than it was even seven years ago) and the highest levels of health disparities.
