Media Fear Mongering in Sacramento County over ‘Spike’ of Coronavirus Cases

The Sacramento Bee published an article over the weekend about coronavirus in Sacramento titled, “A ZIP code emerges as Sacramento’s coronavirus epicenter. But what’s behind the spike?” This truly is a headline in search of a story.

The Bee reports: “The 95817 ZIP code – which includes sections of Elmhurst and Tahoe Park – has 71 cases of the coronavirus, more than any other ZIP code in the county, data show. The infection rate per 10,000 residents is four times higher than any other ZIP code in Sacramento County.”

“Some community leaders say they want to know more about the cases and what the county is doing to reduce spread.”

The “spike” is located within the City of Sacramento, which also has a more dense population. It also covers the lower-income Oak Park neighborhood. It’s also the corridor which is home to most of the city’s homeless vagrant population.

Immunologists and epidemiologists across the country have said the coronavirus is disproportionately affecting minority and low-income areas because of housing density, underlying risk factors, complications from compounded diseases, and diet.

Nowhere in the Bee article do Sacramento County officials identify these factors, nor does anyone acknowledge the three most important risk factors for coronavirus: age, obesity, and diabetes.

Instead, they call is a “spike.”