The COVID-19 infection rate among Black and Latino Americans is more than twice as high as that of white Americans, a new report from the National Urban League shows.
The report is based on race-based COVID-19 data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity.
The report shows that the COVID-19 infection rate among Black people is 62 infections per 10,000 people and among Latinos it's 73 per 10,000 people, compared to 23 per 10,000 people among white people.
Similarly, hospitalization rates are higher for Black Americans (213 per 100,000 people) and Latino Americans (205 per 100,000 people) than white Americans (46 per 100,000 people). Death rates are also higher for Black Americans (70 per 100,000 people) compared to Latino Americans (34 per 100,000 people) and white Americans (30 per 100,000 people).
Black and Latino Americans are more likely to live in crowded housing and to work in occupations that require them to leave their homes, and when Black and Latino Americans contract the new coronavirus, they are more likely to suffer from preexisting conditions that increase their risk of severe illness, the report states.
"The pandemic has forced Americans to grapple — yet again — with the enduring consequences of slavery and the prevalence of systemic racism in our society," the report states.
Read the report here.
More articles on public health:
Threshold for herd immunity may be lower than thought, COVID-19 researchers say
More in America going hungry as coronavirus pandemic rages
5 public health issues flaring up amid the pandemic