New research from Switzerland presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) shows that people living in poorer neighbourhoods were less likely to be tested for COVID-19 but more likely to test positive, be hospitalised, or die, compared with those in more wealthy areas.

Comparing the highest with the lowest Swiss- socioeconomic position (SEP) group and using the general population as the denominator, those in the wealthiest SEP neighbourhoods were 18% more likely to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 than those in the poorest. And, compared with the poorest neighbourhoods, those in the wealthiest neighbourhoods were 25% less likely to test positive, 32% less likely to be hospitalised, 46% less likely to be admitted to the ICU, and 14% less likely to die.

In this whole-population study of the COVID-19 epidemic in Switzerland in 2020-21, researchers found that people living in wealthier areas were more likely to get tested for SARS-CoV-2 but less likely to test positive and be admitted to hospital or the ICU, and less likely to die, compared with those in poorer areas.

Governments and health-care systems should address this pandemic of inequality by taking measures to reduce health inequalities in their response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.