As the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic evolves, its disproportionate impact on vulnerable and socially disadvantaged populations are becoming more pronounced [1,2]. These differences have been attributed to existing health disparities which have been traced back to economic inequality [3]. This is not an entirely new phenomenon as the influenza pandemic in 2009 disproportionately affected the poorest fifth of England’s population [4] and death rates in some South American countries were up to 20 times higher than in Europe [5]. Pandemics are triggered by social inequalities and extreme poverty amongst specific groups and affluence among other groups amid greater global interconnectedness [6]. The links between socioeconomic indices (income, social class, occupational background, and educational achievement) and poorer health outcomes are magnified by COVID-19 [7]. Low socioeconomic status is associated with higher rates of comorbidities such as heart disease [8] and presence of comorbidities has been correlated with poorer clinical outcomes with COVID-19 [9].
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