Study their behaviors. Observe their territorial boundaries. Leave their habitat as you found it. Report any signs of intelligence.

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Tuesday, June 15, 2021

COVID-19 Heterogeneity

A list of possible factors for why COVID-19 has affected different regions differently, in decreasing order of my guestimated importance. 

Beware the political agenda of anybody selling a monocausal theory.

  • geographic/travel connectivity, incl. travel bans
  • vaccination curve
  • efficacy of vaccine(s) used
  • population age structure
  • lockdown policies
  • population density
  • hemisphere (summer vs. winter)
  • co-morbidities: obesity, heart disease, hypertension, smoking, asthma, diabetes/kidney, sickle cell, cancer
  • mask polices
  • vaccine demographic targeting
  • elderly clustering e.g. nursing homes vs. multi-generational domiciles
  • super-spreader opportunities
  • under-/over-reporting of COVID-19 deaths
  • domicile ventilation
  • air conditioning
  • temperature
  • humidity
  • ultraviolet incidence
  • prior culture of mask use
  • advanced contact tracing
  • cultural acceptance of lockdowns
  • compliance culture (e.g. Italians racing to trains against lockdown deadlines)
  • use of mass transit
  • prior experience with SARS/MERS
  • greeting culture: kiss, handshake, bow
  • nursing home return policy
  • South Asian Neanderthal haplotype (Zeberg, Paabo 2020) makes hospitalization 2X likely
  • chromosome 12 Neanderthal haplotype (vs RNA viruses, 2021) makes hospitalization 22% less likely
  • blood type?
  • vitamin D use?
  • anti-parasite Ivermectin use?
  • anti-malaria hydroxychloroquine use?

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