When COVID-19 began spreading across Lebanon, not all towns were affected in the same way. Some communities were already carrying another burden long before the pandemic arrived: chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions. This raised an important question: did towns with more chronic illness also experience higher COVID-19 case numbers?

To explore this, I visualized the relationship between chronic disease presence and the total number of COVID-19 cases across Lebanese towns. The visualization below compares towns with and without chronic disease burdens, making it easy to see which communities were hit hardest as shown below.

As the bars reveal, the towns shown in blue — those with chronic disease — consistently appear at the top of the ranking. Choueifat, Ghobeiri, Hadath-Sbeineh, Haret Hreik, and Tahouitat El Ghadir stand out with significantly higher COVID-19 case counts. By contrast, towns represented in grey, with no chronic disease reported, tend to have lower case numbers and cluster toward the bottom of the list.

This pattern suggests that the pandemic amplified pre-existing vulnerabilities. Towns where chronic diseases were more common may also have had denser populations, older residents, more complex healthcare needs, or other structural factors that made containment more difficult. Although this visualization does not prove direct causation, the correlation is clear and consistent.

Understanding these disparities is crucial for future public-health planning. Communities carrying a dual burden — high chronic disease prevalence and elevated infection rates — would benefit from targeted support, improved access to care, and early intervention strategies. The visualization serves as a reminder that pandemics do not impact all towns equally, and that underlying health conditions can shape the trajectory of a crisis in powerful ways.