How to address the coronavirus’s outsized toll on people of colour

How to address the coronavirus’s outsized toll on people of colour

The outsized toll on people of colour

Evidence from the United States and United Kingdom shows that COVID-19 is taking a disproportionate toll on people of colour. For example, in Michigan, black people make up 14% of the population, but account for 32% of COVID-19 cases and 41% of deaths. Some of the causes are well-known — “we are exposed more and less protected,” notes epidemiologist Camara Phyllis Jones. Some dangerous pre-existing conditions have a higher incidence in many minority ethnic and racial groups. And the way tests have been allocated — to people who have recently travelled internationally, for example — excludes those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

The UK government announced in mid-April that it would launch an inquiry into the reasons why the disparities exist. In the United States, researchers and lawmakers are calling for a national commission devoted to identifying racial disparities in health that would act as a unified voice in trying to overcome them.
Nature | 6 min read