Policy Solutions for Reversing the Color-blind Public Health Response to COVID-19 in the US
Marisa K. Dowling, MD, MPP1; Robin L. Kelly, PhD, MA2,3
Author Affiliations Article Information
JAMA. Published online June 4, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.10531
Two months into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, more than 1.7 million individuals in the US have been infected and more than 100?000 have died. This tragedy has affected people of all walks of life, but the burdens of morbidity and mortality have not been borne equally. As data have accumulated from across the nation, a disturbing, and not surprising, pattern has emerged: cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have disproportionally affected communities of color.1,2
A Crisis Within a Crisis
Burdened by a legacy of discrimination and systemic inequality, African Americans, who represent 13% of the US population, account for 26% of COVID-19 cases,3 31% of hospitalizations,4 and 23% of deaths,5 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This translates to a mortality rate for African American individuals that is 2.4 times the rate for white individuals, with rates of 54.6 vs 22.7 deaths per 100?000, respectively, based on data from 39 states and the District of Columbia.6 However, complete data on these differences remain elusive. Nationwide, 50% of COVID-19 cases reported to the CDC lack the patient’s racial or ethnic information.3
