A year ago, The Jewish Press published an article comparing the death rate in various New York zip codes. Its conclusion? “[There is] no obvious correlation between the Covid-19 death rate and mass adherence to Covid-19 rules and recommendations.”

But what is the situation a year later?

Let’s see.

Let’s start, as The Jewish Press did, by comparing Washington Heights (where people obey Covid rules) and Crown Heights (where they don’t). In the Washington Heights zip codes of 10033 and 10040, the death rate per 100,000 is 330 and 519, respectively. In the Crown Heights zip code of 11225 and 11213, it’s 416 and 475, respectively. In other words, the rates are roughly the same — despite one population living in terror behind masks and the other living freely.

What about Williamsburg, which famously hosted a 7,000-person wedding last year?

In the zip codes of 11205, 11206, and 11211/11249, the death rate per 100,000 is 218, 348, and 232, respectively. These numbers are way below Brooklyn’s average of 417. Meanwhile, in East New York (11239) — which is not exactly a frum area — the death rate per 100,000 is 1,206.

What about Boro Park vs. Flatbush? Anybody who has visited these neighborhoods knows that adherence to Covid rules is far greater in Flatbush than in Boro Park. So what has the outcome been? Well, the death rates in the Flatbush zip codes of 11230, 11210, and 11234 are 554, 405, and 396, respectively.

The numbers in Boro Park? In the zip code of 11204, it’s 357, and in the zip code of 11219, it’s 363.

Now, I realize that a population with more children will have fewer deaths. Yet, even adjusting for this factor, the numbers are nowhere near where they should be if the “experts” were right about the efficacy of masks, staying at home, etc. Most people in neighborhoods like Boro Park, Williamsburg, and Crown Heights live completely normal lives, go to crowded shuls, and attend packed weddings. Their death rates should be through the roof. And yet, not only are they not through the roof, they are in many cases better than the death rate of the average New York zip code.

Will our health officials take notice? Do they care?

Feel free to look up the numbers yourself at New York’s City’s official health website: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data-neighborhoods.page