North Carolina, Raleigh- Amid a worsening of historical inequalities, Latinos and African Americans in the United States are disproportionately impacted by Covid-19 infections.
In an article published this month by the national organization Health America, Latinos are the group that is experiencing record levels of new coronavirus cases in a single day.
According to data updated as of December 11 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English), the hospitalization rate associated with Covid-19 in the United States is 295.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, the highest point since the beginning of the pandemic.
The CDC in its report reveals that age-adjusted hospitalizations for Latinos, non-Hispanic American Indians, or Alaska Natives, and non-Hispanic African-Americans are approximately 3.7, 3.5, and 3.2 times higher than for non-Hispanic whites. respectively.
Some state examples of disparities in cases of coronavirus in Latinos as of December 15
- Utah, 14% of the population is Latino, but they represent 23% of Covid-19 cases.
- Oregon, 13% of the population is Latino, but they represent 29% of Covid-19 cases.
- Washington, 13% of the population is Latino, but they represent 34% of Covid-19 cases
- California, 39.3% of the population is Latino, but they represent 56.8% of Covid-19 cases
- North Carolina9.3% of the population is Latino, but they represent 26% of Covid-19 cases
Latino deaths
Not only the rates of contagion cases hit the Latino community hard, reflecting a contrast with other communities, but also the figures reveal that being 18% of the general population of the country, they represent 19.1% of the list of deaths.
These data, updated to December 16, were published in their report by the CDC under the title “Health Disparities: Race and Hispanic Origin.”
However, the Latino death rate became 32% higher when the CDC used population distributions taking different scenarios into account. This is up from the 26.7% mark in the data at the end of May 2020.
“Weighted population distributions ensure that population estimates and percentages of deaths from Covid-19 represent comparable geographic areas, in order to provide information on whether certain racial and ethnic subgroups are experiencing a disproportionate burden of mortality from Covid,” wrote the CDC.
The CDC also cautions that this data may be incomplete. It does not include all deaths that occurred during a given period of time, given a delay of one to two weeks.
Read more: With only 10% of the population in North Carolina, how did Latinos become 44% of COVID-19 cases in the state?
Total deaths from Covid-19 by age
0-24 years
Latinos: 41.2%
African Americans: 28.6%
Whites: 21.9%
Asians: 2.9%
Native American / Alaska Native: 2.9%
25 to 34 years
Latinos: 41.6% distribution of deaths from Covid-19
African Americans: 27.2%
Whites: 19.3%
Asian: 3.8%
Native American / Alaska Native: 5.8%
35-44 years
Latinos: 47.6% distribution of deaths from Covid-19
African Americans: 26.2%
Whites: 17.7%
Asian: 3.6%
Native American / Alaska Native: 3.4%
45-54 years
Latinos: 41.8% distribution of deaths from Covid-19
African Americans: 25.4%
Whites: 24.8%
Asian: 3.8%
Native American / Alaska Native: 2.6%
54-64 years
Latinos: 30.8% distribution of deaths from Covid-19
African Americans: 25.4%
Whites: 36.5%
Asian: 3.9%
Native American / Alaska Native: 1.9%
65-74 years
Latinos: 21.8% distribution of deaths from Covid-19
African Americans: 22.3%
Whites: 49.4%
Asian: 4%
Native American / Alaska Native: 1.3%
75-84 years
Latinos: 15.3% distribution of deaths from Covid-19
African Americans: 16.3%
Whites: 63.2%
Asian: 3.5%
Native American / Alaska Native: 0.8%
85 years or older
Latinos: 10.1% distribution of deaths from Covid-19
African Americans: 10.8%
Whites: 74.9%
Asian: 3.4%
Native American / Alaska Native: 0.4%
As of December 12, The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS, for its acronym in English), reported that 422 Hispanics have died, 8% of the total by ethnic group.
