County-Level Data Shows Racial, Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19

HealthITAnalytics ^ | 4-27-2020 | Jessica Kent

[spintreebob]

Data collected at the county level shows that COVID-19 is more prevalent among black and Hispanic populations, revealing significant racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare.

County-level data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed staggering racial and ethnic disparities in care, with the virus disproportionately impacting black and Hispanic populations.

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A new report from the Commonwealth Fund shows that COVID-19 is more prevalent and deadly in US counties with higher black populations. While African Americans make up about 30 percent of the population in Chicago, they account for 68 percent of the city’s COVID-19 deaths. The team found similar patterns in Milwaukee, New Orleans, Michigan, and other places.

Troubling racial inequalities have emerged in the COVID-19 pandemic; city and state health departments have raised alarms about the impact on communities of color, Laurie Zephyrin, MD, David C. Radley, Yaphet Getachew, Jesse C. Baumgartner, and Eric C. Schneider, MD wrote.

Not long after the virus started spreading, counties with relatively larger black populations faced higher case counts, higher COVID-19-related mortality, and a faster pace of progression compared to counties with a lower share of black people.

READ MORE: EHR Data Reveals Common Chronic Diseases in COVID-19 Patients

Researchers analyzed county-level COVID-19 case and mortality data, and paired it with county-level population demographic information. Using this data, they were able to compare the COVID-19 experience in counties with either a higher- or lower-than-average African American population.

The group found that in counties with a relatively larger black population, more people are sick with COVID-19 and mortality rates are higher.

By April 21, high-concentration black communities saw 422,184 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 27,354 deaths, compared to 378,667 cases and 16,203 deaths in low-concentration black counties.

The 681 high-concentration black counties account for only about a third of the US population, but 53 percent of the cases and 63 percent of the deaths nationally.

These trends — especially the diverging mortality between these groups of counties — should raise alarm bells. To address them, we need more consistent data collection and transparency on the impact of COVID-19 among communities of color, the authors stated.

READ MORE: Big Data Dashboard Tracks COVID-19 Cases and Response in Indiana

The group noted that although the CDC has started releasing national data on race and ethnicity, recently two-thirds of the reported cases failed to specify the race of the individual.

Going forward, the United States needs to mandate standardized collection and reporting of COVID data by race and ethnicity to provide a clear national picture of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on communities of color, the researchers concluded.

Only then will federal and local leaders be able to ensure resources for testing, treatment, and recovery are targeted to communities and people most affected by this pandemic.

Hispanic populations have also been disproportionately affected by coronavirus. Researchers in Texas recently found that the Hispanic population in Travis County has been contracting COVID-19 at a growing rate since April 8.

The data was collected by a team from Central Health, a public organization that connects low-income and uninsured individuals to healthcare services.

READ MORE: State-Level Risk Assessments Critical for Reducing COVID-19 Measures

On April 8, 33 percent of all coronavirus cases in Travis County were Hispanic patients. By April 20, that percentage had risen to 41 percent, and by April 23, to 46 percent.

Travis County’s estimated doubling time, or the number of days for the number of cases to increase by a factor of two, has risen for two straight weeks.

Doubling time gives us an indication of continuous growth or stagnation. The growth has slowed considerably, said Sarita Clark-Leach, the Central Health director of analytics and reporting.

However, researchers found that some of the county’s poorer ZIP codes and neighborhoods are experiencing the most dramatic percentage increases in rates. According to documents from Central Health, the St. John’s neighborhood saw a 187.5 percent increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases from April 13-20, a doubling time of 4.59 days.

A nearby ZIP code experienced a 64.9 percent increase in cases from April 13-20, with an estimated doubling time of 9.7 days.

In comparison, ZIP codes that contain downtown Austin and North University neighborhoods either experienced no increase in cases, or saw declines in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per capita.

These county-level findings reveal that states and communities should prioritize the collection of race and ethnicity data throughout the pandemic.

In a recent report from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), researchers argued that capturing race data about COVID-19 cases and outcomes will be essential to overcoming health equity issues highlighted during the outbreak.

Sadly, the health disparities making the news today aren’t new or specific to COVID-19, said AANP President Sophia L. Thomas, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, PPCNP, FNAP, FAANP.

The time for waiting is over. We need immediate solutions to the disparities ravaging the health of at-risk populations.

[cherry]

if its one thing I am learning with this virus is that I personally need to get in better shape.....started a somewhat low carb low sugar diet yesterday...although I did have a cookie today....but no bread, no rice, no taters, no pasta....lots of meat though...I will not give up tomatoes or other veggies....

[libertylover]

Let’s see:
1) NYC has way more cases than other US locations.
2) de Blasio leaves the subways open.
3) We find out today that de Blasio hasn’t been cleaning the subways.

Hmmm. Maybe there’s a connection.

[Redmen4ever]

do you have a source?

[RonnG]

It’s Trump and his evil flu machine

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

If the Democrats who control the major cities didn’t keep “their voters down on the welfare/release the criminals plantation”, a lot of this might not have happened.

Look at Detroit. Run by a lifelong Communist Party mayor Coleman Young and aided by CP supporters Mahaffey and Henderson, made a once productive city into a slum/abandoned blocks wasteland.

In NYC, the white mayors keep the blacks in virtual housing project penitentiaries.

Incompetent white and black mayors of Baltimore helped destroy a once major economic center of the East Coast (I was born and lived their for 21 years, with a family business of 50 years, one doctor, etc.). Nothing is left. Hard to even find a good Jewish delicatessen on Corned Beef Row. 90% of them are gone except for Attman’s (not as good as it used to be under Grandpa) and Harry’s.

Look at No. Philadelphia. Parts are worse than they were when I went to school their in the 60’s.

LA, SF, Seattle, etc. Watch where you step, folks.

When you chase good jobs/businesses out of the city by overtaxing, over-regulation, and condemning them as evil instruments of capitalism, you automatically condemn the lower economic members of society to a harder form of life. Blame it on Dinkins, Bloomturd, DeBlasio, etc. for NY City, and some of these other incompetent Marxists in Philly, Cleveland, Newark, Chicago, etc.

Singing “They only hurt the ones they love (as long as they vote for them)”.

[TexasGator]

“do you have a source?”

Lots

[CodeJockey]

meh... In time it will be a badge of honor to have or have had it.

[Redmen4ever]

Thanks.

[Ragnar54]

A cup of Vitamin D fortified milk contains about 100 IU of Vitamin D. An adult needs about 5000 IU per day. Milk is fortified enough to prevent rickets.

[FormerFRLurker]

That’s great! Personally I have given up alcohol to boost my immune system. I was never a heavy drinker to begin with (1-2 glasses of wine with dinner a few times a week) but I definitely feel more focused without it. Might be a placebo effect. Anyway it’s a great time to start new healthier lifestyle choices.

[Ragnar54]

No, it's because dark skinned people produce less Vitamin D in response to UV B, and are as a result lower in Vitamin D.
Probability of Vitamin D Deficiency by Body Weight and Race/Ethnicity

"Conclusions:
The effects of skin color and body weight on vitamin D status are large, both statistically and clinically. At typical target concentrations of deficiency (below 20 or below 30 ng/mL), those with darker skin colors or heavier body weights have a higher probability of being vitamin D deficient. Knowledge of these effects may facilitate the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency."

There is a sad familiarity to the distribution of this disease, if one reviews the history of rickets:

Rickets before the discovery of vitamin D

"Progress in studies of the causes and treatment of rickets suddenly moved much faster, in the period 1917–1922. At the beginning of that time, Huldschinski33 advocated ultraviolet light treatment for rickets. At the same time, Hess34 showed that cod liver oil could prevent and cure rickets in Afro-American children in New York."

Evidently the disease was more pronounced in Afro-American children, for the reason outlined above (rickets is caused by a severe deficiency of Vitamin D). The fact that this new disease is more severe for Afro-Americans is an important clue that should be acted upon. If every adult took enough Vitamin D to raise their blood levels to 100 nmol/l (40 ng/ml), the severity of the disease would be reduced.

Old people are also deficient in vitamin D, because old skin doesn't work as well in producing it and old people are more likely to stay inside and covered.

There is an article on NIH by a Canadian physician (Dr. Gerry Schwalfenberg) who works in nursing homes. He has developed a protocol for reducing flu like illness among his patients. This should be tried against the corona virus in US nursing homes:

Vitamin D for influenza