Why is COVID impacting Hispanic communities at higher rates? Here’s what CDC says
Coronavirus is infecting Hispanics at higher rates than whites, and a new report offers insight into potential causes.
Health officials studied patient records and found Hispanic adults living in Denver had disproportionate rates of coronavirus cases, deaths and hospital stays, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in findings published Thursday.
Through research and interviews, health officials discovered Hispanic residents with COVID-19 were more likely to say they had essential jobs and kept working while sick, results show. The situations are among those that have the potential to bring increased risk of exposure, according to the CDC.
The report comes as the CDC says Hispanics nationwide who contract the coronavirus are hospitalized at 4.1 times the rate of whites. Rates of cases and hospitalizations are also higher when compared to white people who don’t identify as Hispanic, health officials said.
Why the higher case rates?
As COVID-19 spread from March to October, the majority of adult coronavirus infections and hospitalizations reported in Denver were among people who identified as Hispanic. That’s despite the group making up about 25% of the Colorado city’s population, the CDC said in its report.
“Compared with non-Hispanic persons, Hispanic persons with COVID-19 in Denver reported larger household sizes and were more likely to report known exposures to household and close contacts with COVID-19, working in an essential industry, and working while ill,” officials said.
While Hispanic or Latino residents represent roughly 19% of the country’s population, the group in 2019 constituted about 28% of agriculture workers and 30% of construction workers, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. People employed in those industries may go to work sick if their companies don’t give paid time off, according to the CDC.
Hispanics also make up 24% of workers in the hospitality industry, which was hit hard during coronavirus-related shut downs. Several surveys found Hispanic adults reported the most job and paycheck cuts due to the pandemic, McClatchy News reported in May.
Also in the recent CDC report, Hispanics said they waited longer to get tested for the virus after starting to experience symptoms, results show. Health officials recommend people who think they have the coronavirus stay home and reach out to their doctors about testing options.
While the presence of certain health conditions could be behind risks for contracting COVID-19, cultural factors and living conditions could raise risks of exposure, according to health experts.
“Whereas social networks among Hispanic persons living in the United States are often viewed as protective for chronic health conditions, in the case of a readily transmissible infectious disease without any known immunity, such as COVID-19, close networks present elevated risk for exposure and infection,” the CDC said.
The report used Denver Public Health information from 9,056 adults that were living outside of congregate settings such as jails and care facilities, according to officials. The CDC says some limitations were that detailed information wasn’t available for all coronavirus cases, and Hispanics aren’t a “homogenous group.”
“Public health, health systems, and social services need to address systemic inequalities to mitigate the disproportionate incidence of COVID-19 in Hispanic persons,” officials said.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 1:45 PM with the headline "Why is COVID impacting Hispanic communities at higher rates? Here’s what CDC says."
