Local NewsCoronavirus

Actions

Doctors discuss link between where you live, COVID-19 infections

Screen Shot 2021-03-30 at 9.07.05 PM.png
COVID-19
Posted at 9:08 PM, Mar 30, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-31 02:30:53-04

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Could there be a link between where you live and how likely you are to get infected with COVID-19?

Las Vegas doctors discussed the tie between your zip code and the pandemic.

CORONAVIRUS: Nevada's test positivity rate remains 4.2% over the last 2 weeks

The data does not come as a surprise for Dr. Robert Wesley, who says that your income and neighborhood have impacted your contact with COVID-19 across Southern Nevada.

Lower-income neighborhoods are facing the brunt of the storm.

“Many people can’t stay at home, they cant social distance from their jobs, they have to work, they can’t find places for their kids to isolate so that becomes the major source of transmission,” says Dr. Wesley.

13 Action News checked the Southern Nevada Health District’s COVID-19 reports by zip code over the past week.

Zip codes like 89134 and 89144 near Summerlin are sitting in the yellow, as one of the lowest case count categories.

Meanwhile, zip codes like 89030 and 89115 in North Las Vegas and the northeast Las Vegas valley are in the red, the highest case count category.

We compared that to income.

According to Healthy Southern Nevada, zip code 89115 has a median household income of just over $39,000.

Zip code 89144 has a median household income of just over $100,000.

“People in affluent communities have better access to the internet, they may even have connections,” says Dr. Wesley.

RELATED: COVID-19 Vaccines and What You Need To Know

Dr. Jerry Reeves and the Clark County Medical Society are working to reach out to vulnerable and low-income areas through the COVID Recovery Coalition.

Dr. Reeves says issues getting the vaccine still linger due to language barriers and distrust of the system, but the biggest issue he says is access.

“It’s easier for someone who lives in Summerlin to make an appointment and connect with a doctor, but for someone in the neighborhood it’s not so easy because there aren’t that many clinical sites and healthcare delivery sites,” says Dr. Reeves.