HealthDay Reports: Why Are Blacks, Other Minorities Hardest Hit By COVID-19?
A new study looked at why the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately hitting minority and low-income populations and found that certain social and economic factors that existed long before the COVID-19 crisis may help explain why.
Why Are Blacks, Other Minorities Hardest Hit By COVID-19?
WEDNESDAY, May 6, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The new coronavirus is disproportionately striking minority populations -- particularly urban blacks and Navajo Indians living on their reservation. Experts say social and economic factors that predate the COVID-19 crisis may help explain why.
"We found that there were large disparities in the proportion of people at risk of COVID-19 from minority and low-income populations," said study co-author Julia Raifman. She's an assistant professor of health law, policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health.
Raifman believes decades of disparities in education, housing, jobs and stress levels have contributed to an excess risk of chronic disease based on race, ethnicity and income. And those same issues are exacerbating the COVID-19 crisis.
Read the full HealthDay story.