In March and April, it was mainly better-off areas that had high numbers of corona infections. “According to everything we know, this is due to the “Ischgl effect”, namely the fact that these infections were largely imported from the Alps by holidaymakers, so to speak, “explains Jan Paul Heisig, head of the health research group at the Berlin Science Center study of Robert Koch Institute has analyzed that this changed in mid-May and that more disadvantaged districts and cities were then affected.
If you put for NRW For example, the number of infections and unemployment figures side by side shows that regions with low unemployment (Münster, Coesfeld district, Borken district, Olpe district, Hochsauerlandkreis) often have lower infection rates than regions with higher unemployment (e.g. Hagen and Wuppertal). But there are also counterexamples, such as the Lippe district, which currently has high infection rates and a rather low unemployment rate. For reasons of data protection, there are as yet no studies for Germany that show clear relationships between income, education and the risk of infection for individuals. However, some of the findings from other countries can be transferred.
What do you know about how income, status and risk of infection are related?
- Be on the move more: Mobility data show that people in poorer areas were more on the move even in lockdown, says sociologist Jan Paul Heisig: “It is very difficult to clarify how much of it is voluntary.“Part of the reason is the job and the fact that people are dependent on buses and trains.
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- Other jobs: A British study has analyzed a higher risk of infection for people who work in supermarkets, in the care sector, in hotels and restaurants and in the security industry. Many better paid people, on the other hand, can stay in the home office.
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- Weaker immune system: Another study came to the conclusion that poorer people have a higher probability of actually getting infected when they come into contact with the coronavirus, says researcher Jan Paul Heisig. One suspects this is due to the fact that on average they have a poorer immune system, for example due to chronic stress.
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- More tightness: An American study shows that poorer people are more often in narrower places than people in richer areas, for example in smaller apartments, says sociologist Jan Paul Heisig. He assumes that some of this can also be applied to Germany – for example, if Discounter are fuller than organic supermarkets and cheap snacks are fuller than expensive restaurants.
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