Why COVID-19 Spares The Poor

DOYIN OKUPE

Have you been wondering why  ordinary folks seem to be less affected by COVID-19? Whenever my drivers, house helps and security come back from their leave at home, I always asked them the state of things in their villages. Up till today in the last one year, none has come back with any news of deaths or serious illnesses requiring hospitalisation in their homes or surroundings. 

 I visited the Sabo Market in Sagamu (Ogun State) and the tomato market at toll gate in Ogere (Ogun State). I questioned many traders if any stall or store owners have been missing, or did not come to the market or have actually died. Responses were always negative. 

 So clearly the prevalence of noticeable infection with COVID-19 is less among the lower class and fatalities appear to be higher among the upper class. However, It is necessary to make some adjustment for the fact that deaths among the elite class readily get media attention than those of regular folks.  

Melinda Gates prediction failed woefully because there was no way she could have foreseen this demographic prevalence factor in the spread of COVID-19. The overall infectivity and fatalities in Africa is disproportionately much lower than the rest of the World!!!  

What is the magic here?Simply put, the magic is SUNLIGHT. People who are daily exposed to sunlight are able to convert some chemicals in their skins to Vitamin D, especially D3. Scientist have incontrovertible evidence that Vitamin D seriously boosts the human immunity and actually have capacity to prevent respiratory and lung diseases. In the case of COVID-19, Vitamin D3 can prevent infection in some people and in others who still get infected , it decreases the severity of the infection and recovery rate is far better.  

Recently a petition signed by 120 physicians spread across the globe (I have a copy) has been sent to world leaders and governments to treat vitamin D deficiency common in Europe and Americas, who have effective sunlight for just a few months in a year and hence have large numbers of the populace suffering from vitamins deficiency leading to high rates of susceptibility to covid19 infections and deaths.  

Many of us elites in Africa are also Vitamin D deficient and this makes us ready targets for COVID-19 infections also. This is because we are hardly in the sun all year round. Yet a 30 minutes lounge daily in the bright sunlight gives one about 20,000 iu of vitamin D in our blood. This figure is much much more higher than our daily requirement, which is about 4000 iu of vitamin D.  

This is why young people, students, hawkers, traders and many who toil daily under the Sun have very high immunity against COVID-19. So my dear elders, VIPs and Ogas please walk leisurely or lounge in the sun for 20 to 30 minutes daily, and with your face masks always on in public and observing normal COVID protocols, with daily supplications to the Almighty, you will place a ban on COVID-19 from affecting you and your household.  

God bless you all.   

• Okupe, a Medical Doctor, was Adviser to former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan.