A study published Oct. 7 in Pediatrics found minority children in the U.S. were more likely to lose their caregivers to COVID-19 compared to white children.
Using data on fertility rates, excess mortality, COVID-19 mortality and household composition aggregated between April 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, researchers found an estimated 129,630 children lost their primary caregivers while an estimated 22,007 lost secondary caregivers.
Researchers noted a limitation on the results was data being collected prior to the surge of delta cases.
Key findings:
- One out of 753 white children lost a caregiver.
- One out of 412 Hispanic children lost a caregiver.
- One out of 310 Black children lost a caregiver.
- One out of 168 American Indian and Native Alaskan children lost a caregiver.
- States with the greatest disparities between white and non-white children were Alaska, North Dakota, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Washington, D.C.
"It is clear that this pandemic has hit every community in America," Richard Besser, MD, a former acting director of the CDC, told NBC. "But it hasn’t hit every community with the same ferocity."
Read the full study here.