Study shows less-privileged US neighborhoods suffer more violence during pandemic

LONDON - A new study has revealed a dramatically higher level of gun violence in less-privileged neighborhoods across the United States in 2020 than their wealthier neighbors, The Guardian has reported.

"Unfortunately the findings were not that surprising," Julia Schleimer, the study's lead researcher, was quoted by the British newspaper as saying on Monday. "Disparities in violence have existed for a long time and the pandemic was impacting structures in the communities that have endured the greatest burden."

Besides, The Guardian said, gun homicides and assaults across the country increased by 27.7 percent and 4 percent respectively during March-July 2020, compared to the average figure for the same period of 2018 and 2019, according to the study published on Dec 9 in the American Journal of Public Health.