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A thread about Covid, and location, and privilege. Consider a screenshot of this map of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida. I live in the light blue area:
This map is from the Florida DOH COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard. It's based on ZIP codes. Once a ZIP code has 300 cases, it becomes red. My ZIP (33704) has had 191 cases total since reporting started.
Why is that? Are we more vigilant here? Well, let's consider some basic numbers (stats taken from City Data and Census):
- In 2018, the median household income of 33704 residents was $78,090.
- 7.4% of 33704 residents live in poverty.
- Bachelor's degree or higher: 57.2%
- In 2018, the median household income of 33704 residents was $78,090.
- 7.4% of 33704 residents live in poverty.
- Bachelor's degree or higher: 57.2%
Now let's look at Florida:
- Median household income: $53,267
- Poverty: 13.6 percent
- Bachelor's degree or higher: 29.2
- Median household income: $53,267
- Poverty: 13.6 percent
- Bachelor's degree or higher: 29.2
Let's look at ZIP code 33705, also in St. Petersburg:
- In 2018, the median household income of 33705 residents was $34,380.
- 24.7% of 33705 residents live in poverty
- Bachelor's degree or higher: 30.3
- Number of Covid cases: 890
- In 2018, the median household income of 33705 residents was $34,380.
- 24.7% of 33705 residents live in poverty
- Bachelor's degree or higher: 30.3
- Number of Covid cases: 890
If you guessed that my ZIP is mostly white and 33705 is mostly Black, you are correct. It's likely that the people in my ZIP have the privilege of being able to work from home and get delivery, or they are retired and have a pension/savings.
The people in the ZIP code to the south do not have those privileges. They are likely to be service workers, which is a common job for people in Florida. This is what white privilege looks like. What health care privilege looks like.
If you're outside of Florida and wondering why we have lots of cases, don't just blame the partiers. It's also because we have a service economy and people have to go to work to survive. More contact with people = more cases.
A couple of numbers caveats: there are more people living in 33705 — but 33704 is actually slightly more densely populated.
(Fun factoid: Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida)
(Fun factoid: Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida)
