• More Asian men have died. Kumar (if that was his name, it seems to have been taken by the journalist from a Facebook post by someone who knew him) I may have met, as I always used to get some food in the shop where he worked before starting the London Classic/Cobblemonster (it's just across the street from the Gipsy Hill Tavern). RIP.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/20/london-death-shines-light-on-covid-19-threat-to-local-shopworkers

    Obviously, it's still not clear whether people of Asian and African extraction seem to be more susceptible to the virus than white Europeans; general state of health and the jobs that people tend to do could also be a major factor. I think the suspicion was first generated by the disproportionate deaths of Asian and some African health workers, including a dozen doctors.

  • I'm sure our newbie nutcases will be more than eager to explain to you will be more than happy to explain that this is a consequence of Covid19 having been genetically engineered by the WHO from a mutant strain of virus extracted from Bigfoot by the pilots of the black helicopters.

    Back in the land of the sane, I'm assuming there are various factors other than the genetics of ethnicity which may be a factor in the apparent discrepancies in fatality figures. Multi-generational households, language comprehension, tendency to employment in customer service roles etc. As with many things at the moment, there are trends in the data, but distinguishing correlation from causation is difficult.

    After all, the genetic differences relating to race and ethnicity are relatively minor. And if it's not genetic differences which cause the disparity in the fatality rates, that really only leaves lifestyle factors.

  • Back in the land of the sane, I'm assuming there are various factors other than the genetics of ethnicity which may be a factor in the apparent discrepancies in fatality figures. Multi-generational households, language comprehension, tendency to employment in customer service roles etc. As with many things at the moment, there are trends in the data, but distinguishing correlation from causation is difficult.

    After all, the genetic differences relating to race and ethnicity are relatively minor. And if it's not genetic differences which cause the disparity in the fatality rates, that really only leaves lifestyle factors.

    Sure. I was thinking about things like sickle cell anaemia, which are more prevalent in certain sections of the population, and more dangerous to those. I'm perfectly open to the possibility (and obviously not trying to draw any conclusions) that with COVID-19 it is mainly roles and social factors, but it is still so difficult to get a handle on things like living in larger households and the likely impact they might have.

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