Covid-19 deaths linked to lack of Internet access
Correlation is not causation, but this correlation should make all of us pause: Covid-19 deaths linked to lack of Internet access.
First, the research. Second, our abysmal lack of an inclusive broadband policy.
Researchers examined data (22 January 2020 to 18 February 2021) from 3,142 counties in the 50 US states plus the District of Columbia. They found that “social determinants of health and COVID-19 mortality varied across racial and ethnic groups.”
No surprise there, right?
When examining (1) Black or African American, (2) Hispanic or Latinx and (3) non-Hispanic White populations (all died at greater rates than White Americans), researchers identified 531 counties for in-depth investigation. All had “significantly higher COVID-19 mortality rates than other counties during the study period.”
Their findings (emphasis added):
Across all community types, places with limited internet access had higher mortality rates, especially in urban areas…
Furthermore, internet access was a significant factor in all communities, an observation that extends similar findings from previous work…we believe this finding suggests that more awareness is needed about the essential asset of technological access to reliable information, remote work, schooling opportunities, resource purchasing, and/or social community. Populations with limited internet access remain understudied and are often excluded in pandemic research.
How did we get here?
The road to today’s abysmal broadband policy begins during the Great Depression.
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