New study further shows horrible impact of coronavirus on Black communities
Written by Site Hub on May 9, 2020
As previously reported, the pandemic has adversely impacted members of the Black community at a disproportionately higher level than any other community. Yet, there hasn’t been enough data to fully study the impact until recently. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously released early data from states, but approximately 78 percent of it failed to cover race and ethnicity.
amfAR, PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, and researchers and epidemiologists from four universities, including Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center, have released updated details. They reviewed data from a diverse range of counties throughout the United States, including counties with high and low African American populations. They found that African Americans accounted for 52 percent of all nationwide SARS-CoV-2 diagnoses and made up 58 percent of all related deaths.
Gregorio Millett, an epidemiologist and amfAR’s vice president, noted that researchers discovered a higher number of deaths in both Black metro and rural counties: “We know that being uninsured and crowded living conditions are associated with increases in COVID-19 diagnoses among Black Americans.” The researchers found that African Americans in the hardest-hit counties had underlying conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension.
The study is currently under peer review. The researchers released it early to force officials at state and federal levels to make policy decisions that will help the Black community. Dr Patrick Sullivan of Emory University stated that he believes the numbers offer proof that the government needs to approve emergency Affordable Care Act enrollments and Medicaid expansion.
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