The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic has been called a “poor person’s virus.” A rich person can isolate, while a poor person might have to work in dangerous conditions. A rich person can afford the best healthcare.
 
“They think #COVIDー19 is a poor person’s virus. The MAGA crowd is only suceptible to Affluenza and Privilege” was posted on Twitter by American Cino on March 14, 2020. “He’s (President Donald Trump—ed.) still under the impression that it’s a poor person’s virus. Also, some of his responses lead me to believe he thinks it’s transmitted like a STD” was posted on Twitter by Jo later on March 14, 2020.
 
The term became popular in August 2020. “As a doctor recently told me, ‘Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus. We’re seeing it spread in poor neighborhoods, to poor families who have to go to work and live in close proximity to each other, and poor kids are the ones who will not get a proper education’” was printed in Vanity Fair on August 13, 2020. “‘Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus,’ one wealthy Silicon Valley denizen told Vanity Fair” was printed in the New York (NY) Post on August 15, 2020, in the article “Super rich party it up during COVID-19, the ‘poor person’s virus’” by Paula Froelich.
   
The coronavirus has also been called a “poor man’s virus.”
     
     
Wikipedia: 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, and was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.
       
Twitter
American Cino
@americancino
Replying to @maydaymindy9
They think #COVIDー19 is a poor person’s virus. The MAGA crowd is only suceptible to Affluenza and Privilege
8:53 AM · Mar 14, 2020·Twitter for Android
   
Twitter
Jo
@stark_ravin_mad
Replying to @josh_wingrove
He’s still under the impression that it’s a poor person’s virus. Also, some of his responses lead me to believe he thinks it’s transmitted like a STD
11:14 AM · Mar 14, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
           
Twitter
CoraBlimey#NHS#SOS
@las2950
Replying to @D_Raval and @mojos55
The only people that have caught it and got ill and died are poor people. All the wealthy, protected people seem to recover having had minimal or no symptoms. It’s a poor person’s virus, which is why they aren’t bothered except to bring in control laws.
5:34 PM · Mar 18, 2020·Twitter for Android
 
Twitter
Karen Thornton
@thenamewehave
Replying to @David__Osland and @georgegalloway
#Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus. It was obvious months ago.  The rich & middle class can isolate & work from home; the poor are delivering, driving, on the tills…
The rich can get tested seemingly whenever they desire
For sure, BoJo’s nurses weren’t dressed in bin bags
12:06 PM · May 1, 2020·Twitter Web App
 
Twitter
Opinions by Lyda, Joey, Je T’aime & SweetPea
@Cindy_Lee_G
Replying to @dlippman @JuddApatow and @nypost
I’m thinking that they think covid is a poor person’s virus.
2:46 AM · Jul 4, 2020·Twitter Web App
 
Twitter
Chris Russell
@Uronlyhumanzoo
Replying to @Reuters
In other words, don’t inconvenience rich folk while trying to mitigate spread. This is a poor person’s virus, the rich are immune.
4:11 AM · Jul 26, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
 
Vanity Fair
“All These Rich People Can’t Stop Themselves”: The Luxe Quarantine Lives of Silicon Valley’s Elite
Travis Kalanick is throwing (outdoor) parties, private-jet owners are hopping from safe zone to safe zone, and dinner party hosts are administering 15-minute COVID-19 rapid tests—all business as usual. “Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus,” says one source.
BY NICK BILTON
AUGUST 13, 2020
(...)
As a doctor recently told me, “Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus. We’re seeing it spread in poor neighborhoods, to poor families who have to go to work and live in close proximity to each other, and poor kids are the ones who will not get a proper education.”
 
New York (NY) Post
Super rich party it up during COVID-19, the ‘poor person’s virus’
By Paula Froelich August 15, 2020 | 5:50pm | Updated
While the rest of us hunker down, forgo our vacations and family reunions, and suffer from maskne (the acne that comes with wearing a mask) — in the world of the uber-rich, it’s very, very different.
 
Despite the coronavirus still killing 1,000 people a day in America and unemployment is at an all-time high, billionaires are throwing parties, traveling on private jets, luxuriating on yachts around the world, buying citizenship in “safe” countries and having fun on $12,000 motorized surfboards.
 
“Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus,” one wealthy Silicon Valley denizen told Vanity Fair.