New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that counties with large minority populations had higher rates of COVID-19 infection the longer the coronavirus pandemic endured.
“Inequities in social, economic, and environmental conditions among racial and ethnic minority groups lead to disparities in health risks and outcomes, including those related to COVID-19,” the CDC research concluded.
The CDC examined counties where the population of minorities exceeded the 2019 national average during two-week periods in April, August, and December 2020. A county was considered to have a high incidence of COVID-19 if the rate of infections exceeded 100 per every 100,000 persons.
During April, a high incidence of COVID-19 was reported in 11.4% of all counties. A high incidence was reported in 28.7% of counties with large Asian populations, 27.9% of counties with large black populations, and 12.5% of counties with large Hispanic populations.
By August, 64.7% of all counties had a high incidence of COVID-19. The percentage of heavily black and Hispanic counties with a high incidence was considerably higher, at 92.4% and 74.5%. For Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander counties, the rate was slightly higher than the national percentage at 65.9%, while for heavily Asian counties, it was the same as the national rate of 64.7%.
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In neither April nor August did counties with large American Indian or Alaska Native populations have high incidences of COVID-19 that exceeded the national rate.
By December, all counties with large minority populations had a high incidence of COVID-19 infections that exceeded 95%. The national rate at that point was 99%.
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The findings are consistent with previous research showing that minorities in the United States were disproportionately represented among COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
