Year 13 students Eloise and Ronnie have delivered an outstanding presentation on the geography of COVID-19. Drawing on the most recent epidemiological and social science research, they have critically examined the complex interplay between social, economic, and political determinants of health that have contributed to spatial disparities in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality at both global and UK scales.

Their analysis has underscored the role of pre-existing health inequities in shaping the disproportionate burden of mortality among socioeconomically deprived populations and ethnic minorities, as well as the long-term exacerbation of these disparities due to the pandemic’s syndemic nature and its socioeconomic consequences.

Their presentation exemplified the ‘power of geography’ in uncovering the social determinants of health and the intersectionality of social, economic, and political factors in shaping health outcomes at multiple spatial scales.
Equally commendable were the contributions of Hugh and Ollie, whose data visualisations and spatial analysis provided further empirical depth, strengthening the quantitative dimension of their own exceptional presentations.