Who is getting coronavirus more often, men or women? And who is having a better chance of survival?
In Arizona, we almost have an even split of men and women, which makes for a simple comparison. Our Data Expert, Garrett Archer, explains the numbers.
He tells me, "about 52% of COVID cases are women and about 48% are men. That translates to about 380,000 cases for women and 354,000 cases in men."
So, where does that split end up when we are looking at hospitalizations?
Archer says, "So this is where things start to flip in Arizona and in most places in the United States. There are more men hospitalized than women."
Specifically, 7.6% of the Arizona cases in men lead to hospitalization, while only 6.3% of Arizona's cases in women do.
Overall, 7% of Arizona cases on average lead to hospitalization.
But, the ultimate concern with this virus is death... and that's where the numbers diverge even more.
He tells me, "58% of the deaths in Arizona are men. That translates to about 7,800 deaths. And 42% of the deaths are women and that really is the biggest difference in genders here."
He goes on to say, "There is a case fatality rate, which is 'cases to death' and that is also where you see a difference. 1.4% of COVID-19 cases in women end up in a fatality. And, about 2.1% for men. Now while those numbers don't seem to be that different... that is a pretty big difference in epidemiological numbers."
With the ability to now analyze a full year's worth of data, our understanding gets even more specific.
"The most likely person, who has COVID in Arizona is a Hispanic woman, just based off the topline data. However, the most likely person to die of COVID is a white, non-Hispanic male."
Analyzing these numbers, can play an important part in, not only treating COVID, but in the effective messaging around safety measures.