COVID-19 affects more the poorest areas of the city of Barcelona
This is certified by a joint study by the Hospital del Mar Institute for Medical Research and IDIAPJGol, which reveals that the districts of the city of Barcelona with a lower average income were the most affected by the first wave of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused nearly 30,000 deaths in the State, according to data from the Ministry of Health, affects the most impoverished neighborhoods more strongly, as confirmed by a study recently published in the Journal of Public Health and led by researchers from the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) and IDIAPJGol. The study reveals that, in the city of Barcelona, the district with the lowest average income, Nou Barris, registered an incidence of cases 2.5 times higher during the peak of the epidemic than the district with the highest income, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi.
The work has taken into account the incidence of cases registered by age between February 26 and April 19, one of the times of highest incidence of the disease in Barcelona, and has compared it with the average income data by districts. In total, almost 9,000 cases have been analyzed. The results highlight a direct relationship between a lower income and a higher number of COVID-19 cases.
"This disease is being suffered more by people of lower socioeconomic status," explains Dr. Maria Grau, principal investigator and member of the IMIM Research Group on Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Genetics. In this case, the difference in cases between the district with the lowest income and the district with the highest income was almost 1,000 more cases, an incidence 2.5 times higher. “The results show that efforts to contain the epidemic cannot ignore the problems of equity in health matters,” says Dr. Grau, adding that “more efforts must be made in neighborhoods with a more vulnerable population. In these cases, ensuring equal treatment opportunity is key, but so is financial protection during this period. If the vicious circle between poverty and disease is not broken, the local problems of inequity in health will remain or will increase in the areas affected by the epidemic ”.
The districts of the northern area of Barcelona, those of Nou Barris and Horta Guinardó, those with the lowest income in the city, registered the highest incidence of COVID-19 cases, with 1,440 and 1,400 cases (rates of 75.48 and 70.39 cases per 10,000 inhabitants). The only exception in this area was the Sant Andreu district, a difference that can be explained by the high percentage of residents under 25 years of age (1 in 4). The situation in Ciutat Vella should also be highlighted, with only 273 cases, a fact that reveals the strong presence of tourism and the young population and non-resident foreigners. In contrast, the districts with the highest income, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi and Les Corts, were among the least affected, with 451 and 317 cases (rates of 28.94 and 34.94 cases per 10,000 inhabitants).
Less income and more exposure to the coronavirus
The current pandemic has increased health problems related to access to the labor market. The residents of the most affected neighborhoods mostly have jobs that do not allow remote work modalities, a fact that forces its inhabitants to travel to access their job by public transport, despite the recommendations to stay at home, a fact that multiply the chances of contagion. There is also a clear link between housing and the incidence of the disease, with worse living conditions, overcrowded or shared housing in the worst affected districts. In contrast, the study authors point to the availability of second homes outside the city as a factor to take into account when analyzing the low incidence data registered in the city's highest-income districts. As the first signatory of the work explains, Dr. José Miguel Baena-Díez, researcher at IDIAPJGol (La Marina Primary Care Center), “it is essential to apply health education policies that favor a better understanding and application of preventive measures against contagion, especially with the most at-risk populations, such as the most depressed neighborhoods”, as a factor for the better understanding and application of security measures against contagion.
