Racial demographics and COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths: a correlational analysis of 2886 US counties

Recent news reports state that racial minority groups, such as African-Americans, are experiencing a greater COVID-19 burden, as measured by confirmed cases and deaths. Limited racial data is available on a national level. We conducted the first nationwide analysis to examine COVID-19 and race on a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public health (Oxford, England) Vol. 42; no. 3; p. 445
Main Authors: Mahajan, Uma V, Larkins-Pettigrew, Margaret
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England 18.08.2020
Subjects:
African Americans - statistics & numerical data
Asian Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data
Betacoronavirus
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
COVID-19
Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data
European Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data
Health Status Disparities
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Minority Groups - statistics & numerical data
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
SARS-CoV-2
Socioeconomic Factors
United States
United States
COVID-19
disparities
county
African-Americans
race
socioeconomics
ISSN:1741-3850, 1741-3850
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Summary:Recent news reports state that racial minority groups, such as African-Americans, are experiencing a greater COVID-19 burden, as measured by confirmed cases and deaths. Limited racial data is available on a national level. We conducted the first nationwide analysis to examine COVID-19 and race on a county level. We obtained datasets on COVID-19 cases and deaths, and racial population totals, by US county. We examined if correlations exist between the racial percentages and percentages of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths by county. A positive correlation existed between percentages of African-Americans living in a county and who have COVID-19 (r = 0.254, P < 0.0001), who have died from COVID-19 (r = 0.268, P < 0.0001), and case mortality (r = 0.055, P = 0.003). Positive correlations also existed between percentages of Asian-Americans living in counties and these factors. Negative correlations existed between percentages of Whites living in counties and these factors. A weak, albeit very significant, positive relationship exists between the percentage of African-Americans living in a county and the percentage of COVID-19 confirmed cases, confirmed deaths and case mortality in the county. This is in support of many city and statewide analyses, and we urge for targeted resources towards work that further examine these racial associations.
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ISSN:1741-3850
1741-3850
DOI:10.1093/pubmed/fdaa070