New research suggests an unequal number of COVID-19 deaths in young adults of color.
The latest issue of the Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the trend persists seven months after COVID-19. However, it shows the latest victims of SARS-CoV-2 have become younger. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.
Of the more than 390,000 cases and 121 adolescent COVID-19 deaths analyzed by researchers, more than 8% of the fatalities were children of color.
Coronavirus cases tracked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from Feb. 12 to July 31 show that of 121 SARS-CoV-2-associated deaths among persons younger than 21 by the end of July, 12 were infants and 85 were aged 10 to 20 years. Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native people accounted for 94 (78%) of these deaths.
The death rate among Black non-Hispanics is 2.1 times higher compared to White, non-Hispanics, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Blacks are also twice as likely as Caucasians to be infected by SARS-CoV-2. Hispanics or Latinos are 1.1 times more likely to die from the disease compared with Caucasians and are 4.6 times more likely to be hospitalized. Among native Americans or Alaska Natives, the death rate is 1.1 times higher and the hospitalization rate 5.3 times higher.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said these disparities can be put down to pre-existing medical conditions, medical discrimination and wealth gaps in low-income areas where Blacks live.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still considers this data on unequal outcomes "important to inform public health guidance for schools and parents." This data is especially important today as schools, colleges and universities continue to re-open for in-person instruction despite grave misgivings from teachers themselves.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report concluded people younger than 21 and exposed to SARS-CoV-2 should be monitored for complications. It recommended the continuation of ongoing surveillance for SARS-CoV-2-associated infections, hospitalizations and deaths among young people in this age group as schools continue to reopen in the U.S.
