Posted on 04/14/2020 12:27:23 PM PDT by Hojczyk
As everyone knows, New York City is the main center of COVID-19 infection and fatality in the U.S., with something like 40% of all American deaths. The reasons why shouldn’t be a mystery.
When the Black Death struck Europe in the 14th Century, people had no idea what caused the disease, and all of their theories were wrong. But experience showed, as was the case in later plagues, that the countryside was safer than the city. Most people who could decamped from cities to the country.
And New York City, with more than 28,000 people per square mile, is by far the most densely populated major US city. San Francisco is second at around 18,500, and cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington are in the 11,000 to 12,000 range.
There is a second factor that I suspect is also very important: New York’s reliance on mass transit. New York’s mass transit system–mostly its subways–is, by a huge margin, the most relied-upon public transportation system in the U.S. It carries a remarkable 2,275,000,000 riders per year.
Another point is worth mentioning. Why don’t we think of New York as a chronically sick place? Because people build up immunity to diseases that have been around for a while, and the more people you are exposed to, the more likely you are to be immune. But when a new disease like COVID-19 comes along, a virus to which no one has built up immunity, the population density and public transportation factors come to the fore and New York becomes a very sick city, compared to anywhere else.
(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...
Didn’t the President ban flights from Iran and a liberal NY judge overturned that ban?
They live like sardines in a smelly can?
Swarf?
Melting pot.
Subway system
Theaters
Millions in close walking proximity.
Common heat cool systems in apartments and businesses
Rail transportation in Singapore and Hong Kong has an innovation called sanitation. From my time in Asia and in New York City I am guessing that might make a difference.
NYC is a sick place.
It’s a term from manufacturing but often applied to dirt in general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarf
Generally, fewer is used when the number of things is counted (fewer problems) whereas less is used when the number is measured (less trouble or less time). However, this is not a hard rule and there are accepted instances of "less" being used with countable amounts such as "250 words or less," "3 items or less" and especially with money (less than $20) and distance (less than 3 miles).
All you grammar trolls...
Thank me.
Singapore is largely a new city/country — or at least its buildings are pretty new.
It’s also clean with a smart and educated populace.
NYC, in contrast, is a dump.
Because they have sinned mightily before the Lord and are an abomination to him. How’s that?
Don’t the shoot you on sight in Singapore for spitting out gum on the sidewalk?
I did look it up but it does not seem to fit. Is NYC really that dirty?
I’d say LA is equally as bad, but a fraction of the Corona cases so who knows what God’s plan is?
Someone brought up an interesting fact, if true, in light of suggestions that forced ventilation may actually harm ... that the government pays three times more for hospitalization with a ventilator than without.
Ok...I have a question; how many of the “American Deaths” in New York City are actually American citizens? I’ll not be surprised if most are not citizens but actually illegal from all around thew world, living in the free-bee NYC.
I’m not sure of the mass transit explanation. I work in the SF Bay Area where a lot of people use BART to get to work. Although there was an early outbreak in Santa Clara County, BART doesn’t go there. And SF has been very lightly affected by the virus.
I think it’s more that—to compare the two cities—SF had a much earlier “lockdown” than NYC. The earliest in the nation. As far as a comparison of deaths, SF also has a very small black population (to compare to NYC), low obesity rates, less diabetes etc.
This is very good: https://www.newgeography.com/content/006608-exposure-density-and-pandemic
Big cities in Asia, especially those outside of mainland China, are far cleaner than our cities here. Seoul and Tokyo shocked me in terms of its cleanliness.
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