Source: Business Inside
The Corona virus crisis has only exacerbated an already wide disparity in access to healthcare.
Black Americans were nearly twice as likely as their white neighbors to lack health insurance as recently as 2018.
The current corona virus pandemic has had a disparate impact on people of color.
An early CDC analysis of COVID-19 hospitalizations across 99 counties in 14 states showed that a third of hospitalizations in the areas studied from the new disease were among Black Americans, disproportionately higher than their population share of 18% in those counties.
As Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said in May, “Crisis can exacerbate existing inequalities.”
Black Americans have higher rates of underlying health conditions like diabetes and hypertension that could put them at a higher risk for developing complications from the novel coronavirus.
They also disproportionately hold jobs deemed essential during the pandemic. While Black Americans make up 12% of the overall workforce, they account for 17% of frontline employees, according to a study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research.