Of the more than 115,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus, a disproportionate number of them have been Black or Hispanic.
In New York City this May, Hispanics and Blacks were about twice as likely as whites to have the coronavirus, and died from it at twice the rate. In Chicago, those same populations were roughly two-and-a-half times more likely to have the illness.
Those differences are too large to be random chance. Contributing factors include where people live and how people of color seek and receive medical care. Juan Celedón, a University of Pittsburgh physician and respiratory health researcher, says he knew the pandemic would amplify long-standing racial disparities in health care, just as other illnesses have. “I think [the pandemic] has further exposed profound disparities in respiratory health,” he says. “It’s just another sad example.”
For starters, Black and Hispanic people are more likely to work frontline ...
