First, the population health questions regarding COVID-19

• What is the distribution of the disease? This means, who has it (and who does not).
• How fast is it spreading? This daily count is called the incidence.
• How many people have it? This total count is called the prevalence.

Second, after understanding the distribution of the disease, we ask: “what determines contraction of the disease?” This is the social determinants of health question. We consider these variables, among others:

• Gender
• Race
• Age
• Class
• Health status