Wealth did have a very strong effect, just not the one we usually see.
Poorer countries faired better against the disease itself: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-confirmed-deaths-of...
And it's not population density either, otherwise Bangladesh and India would be leading the packs in deaths, but they're comfortably in the middle while much of Europe pushes the top.
Where this falls apart is in government reaction to the disease, that has absolutely eviscerated the middle and poor classes.
Despite having high overall population densities and some dense cities, India and Bangladesh are still largely (60-80%) rural populations. Totally different to Hong Kong where the population is >99% urban, living in cramped and often poorly-ventilated apartment towers.
Re:An Account of the Shanghai Lockdown
by fauigerzigerk on Saturday April 09, 2022 @08:38AM
(#30967535)
I think the very different age distribution explains a lot of that
Being rich or poor doesn't have too much to do with it. Hong Kong is badly affected because it has a very high population density combined with low vaccination rates.