{"id":52580,"date":"2025-04-25T22:03:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T02:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/mayo-health-library\/covid-19-infections-by-race-whats-behind-the-health-disparities\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T12:06:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T17:06:29","slug":"covid-19-infections-by-race-whats-behind-the-health-disparities","status":"publish","type":"mayo","link":"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/de\/mayo-health-library\/covid-19-infections-by-race-whats-behind-the-health-disparities\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 infections by race: What’s behind the health disparities?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Factors in a person’s life or community can raise the risk of being affected by COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Having other health conditions and barriers to medical care can change the risk of getting COVID-19 or getting very sick from COVID-19. Other factors include where a person lives, the work a person does and beliefs a person has about medical care.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 may cause illness in some groups more than others because of how society treats the group.<\/p>\n

Together these factors are called social determinants of health.<\/p>\n

Discrimination<\/h4>\n

Unfair and unjust treatment based on race, age, ethnicity, gender or other traits can play a part in poor health. Discrimination affects all aspects of health starting with the world around a person. It also can affect a person’s access to healthcare professionals, diagnosis of illness and treatment.<\/p>\n

Other medical conditions<\/h4>\n

The stress of dealing with racial discrimination can take a toll on the body. Diagnosis of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney or liver disease is linked to the stress of racial discrimination.<\/p>\n

A person with any of these diseases, due to racism or other causes, has a higher risk of severe illness with COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Access to healthcare<\/h4>\n

Members of some racial and ethnic groups are more likely to face barriers to getting healthcare. For example, some people may not have health insurance.<\/p>\n

Based on U.S. census data, about 7% of non-Hispanic white adults and adults of Asian descent were uninsured in 2022. The rate was about 11% for Black adults and about 23% for Hispanic adults in that same year.<\/p>\n

Standort<\/h4>\n

Where people live can make it hard to avoid getting COVID-19 or to get COVID-19 treatment. People in rural areas may not have access to healthcare. And people in areas with a dense population may find it hard to stay physically apart from others.<\/p>\n

Beliefs about medical care<\/h4>\n

Groups who distrust the healthcare system may be less likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine or get help for COVID-19 or other illnesses.<\/p>\n

Type of work<\/h4>\n

Having an essential job that can’t be done remotely can raise the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19. The risk also is higher if you have to come in contact with lots of people.<\/p>\n

COVID-19 health disparities<\/h4>\n

In the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, American Indian and Alaska Native people, non-Hispanic Black people and Hispanic people had higher rates of infection and COVID-19 deaths compared with those of non-Hispanic white people.<\/p>\n

Black and Hispanic people in the United States also had higher chances of needing care in the hospital for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Early pandemic data suggested that American Indian and Alaska Native people were four times more likely to need hospital care for COVID-19 than were non-Hispanic white people.<\/p>\n

By 2021, the rate of infection and death for non-Hispanic white people had risen and closed the gap between the groups. In April 2024, non-Hispanic white people had the highest rate of death compared with that of other race and ethnicities.<\/p>\n

Taken together, the COVID-19 pandemic shows how disease can raise the risk of illness based on factors that can be prevented. The pandemic highlights the need to promote the health and well-being of people with a higher than average risk of disease.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Understand how underlying health conditions, the places where people live and work, and racism can affect who becomes seriously ill with COVID-19.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[1686,1685,1682,1684],"class_list":["post-52580","mayo","type-mayo","status-publish","hentry","tag-anatomical-structure","tag-condition","tag-person-group-concept","tag-theme-of-focus","content_type-answers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCOVID-19 infections by race: What's behind the health disparities? - Hancock Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hancockhealth.org\/de\/mayo-health-library\/covid-19-infections-by-race-whats-behind-the-health-disparities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COVID-19 infections by race: What's behind the health disparities? 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