I just listened to Malcolm Gladwell's series about gun crime in the USA, and he suggests that gun crime murder statistics are hopelessly out-of-whack because of the increased ability of emergency departments to save people's lives after being shot. Could it be that the murder rise in the USA during the pandemic was an artifact of hospitals being over-whelmed by COVID patients?
From looking closely at the data I'd say that's extremely unlikely. The murder rate has remained elevated from May 2020 all the way through today. Even in 2023, with the murder rate dropping and covid not in the picture, it remains around 30% higher than it was before May 2020. What's more, if you recall the pandemic there were distinct surges of covid (mostly winters) and periods when it retreated to quite low levels, but the increase in the homicide rates didn't follow those surges whatsoever.
I just listened to Malcolm Gladwell's series about gun crime in the USA, and he suggests that gun crime murder statistics are hopelessly out-of-whack because of the increased ability of emergency departments to save people's lives after being shot. Could it be that the murder rise in the USA during the pandemic was an artifact of hospitals being over-whelmed by COVID patients?
From looking closely at the data I'd say that's extremely unlikely. The murder rate has remained elevated from May 2020 all the way through today. Even in 2023, with the murder rate dropping and covid not in the picture, it remains around 30% higher than it was before May 2020. What's more, if you recall the pandemic there were distinct surges of covid (mostly winters) and periods when it retreated to quite low levels, but the increase in the homicide rates didn't follow those surges whatsoever.