AUTHOR=Stein Roger M. , Katz David L. 

TITLE=Interpreting global variations in the toll of COVID-19: The case for context and nuance in hypothesis generation and testing

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1010011

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.1010011

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=As of January 2022, the COVID19 pandemic remains on-going, affecting populations worldwide.  The potential risks of the Omicron variant (and future variants) still remain an area of active investigation.  Thus, the ultimate human toll of SARS-CoV-2, and, by extension, the variations in that toll among diverse populations, remain unresolved.  

Nonetheless, an extensive literature on causal factors in the observed patterns of COVID19 morbidity and mortality has emerged – particularly at the aggregate level of analysis.  This article explores potential pitfalls in the attribution of COVID outcomes to specific factors in isolation by examining a diverse set of potential factors and their interactions.