By Harry Keller
Former ETCJ Science Editor
& President of SmartScience
The richest, most “entitled” communities have the most viral spread. -HK

There are 88 cities in Los Angeles County, California. Each city has a mayor and a city council. -Wikipedia
Apr 1, 2020 at 5:06 AM: My little town of 36,000 is one of the few in LA County with more than 100 out of 100,000 reported cases of the virus. Others include Bel Air, Beverly Crest, Brentwood, Carthay, Century City, Crestview, Hancock Park, Hollywood Hills, Melrose, Pacific Palisades, Palos Verdes Estates, and West Hollywood. You may notice a pattern here. The richest, most “entitled” communities have the most viral spread. They thought that they were immune and ignored the warnings — or else, they simply are the ones with more access to testing because of their wealth. (Or both?)
My wife and I decided to go to our mountain lot to do some work there away from the hustle and bustle of huge homes on tiny lots that characterizes most of our area today. It was very different when I grew up in this town of lower-middle class and poor families. We expected empty roads. What naiveté! This is Los Angeles, after all.
In a few days, we will be forced out into the world to buy more food. Buying food online has proved daunting. Delivery times can be weeks. -HK
The roads were less congested, true, but they had plenty of cars on them — just not enough to slow you down to half of the speed limit, which is the norm here for certain sections of the freeways. I also noticed an unusual number of wild drivers weaving in and out of the lanes while traveling around 90 mph. The governor’s call to stay at home did not reach a great many people.
On the way back, we decided to visit a Trader Joe’s market that is just off of the freeway there, about one-third of the way home. It was about 2:30 pm, which we anticipated as a slow time of the day. When we entered the parking lot, we immediately saw a long line, turned around, and headed home. A nearby restaurant is offering free delivery of boxed food. We ordered a box of fruit and a box of vegetables that arrived within a half-hour. What service!
However, the prices were daunting. We chose to pay more to avoid contact. It’s hard to put a price on health. Besides, one of the boxes included a roll of toilet paper. I also have some turmeric root now. I can make ginger and turmeric tea? I think that this restaurant (Tender Greens) has show considerable enterprise in this difficult time. How many other restaurants would to the same?
We are back this morning to hunkering down, sheltering in place, and avoiding others. In a few days, we will be forced out into the world to buy more food. Buying food online has proved daunting. Delivery times can be weeks.
Filed under: Uncategorized |
Harry, the parallel between your “richest, most ‘entitled’ communities” and luxury cruise ships is unnerving. Also, thus far, developed countries seem to be faring worse than their 3rd world counterparts. COVID-19 seems to be the great leveler. -Jim
A number of news articles have commented on the reasons for rich communities having more cases. I see a great many possible reasons.
1. More travel by those with more money means more exposure.
2. Parties bring together more people from distant locations.
3. More access to testing means more discovery of otherwise unreported cases.
4. Richer people feel less vulnerable and are more likely to ignore warnings.
5. The upper classes appear to have different information sources and even to ignore them in favor of their own conclusions.
It is long past time to ignore what the official WH position is and to pay attention to the medical experts only. If you are watching one of these briefings, just skip the parts where the president is speaking. You will learn more with less confusion.