Racism, Not Race, Drives Inequity Across the COVID-19 Continuum

Since the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, significant racial and ethnic inequities have persisted across the continuum of COVID-19 morbidity, hospitalization, and mortality. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated that COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates are at least 2.5 and 4.5 times higher, respectively, among Black, Hispanic, and Native American populations than among White populations.¹ Black individuals have died from COVID-19 at more than twice the rate as White individuals.¹ Area-based studies have similarly revealed elevated COVID-19 infection and death rates in socially disadvantaged counties with larger racial and ethnic minority populations.² In the context of intergenerational, structural inequalities in the United States, these trends are as devastating as they are unsurprising. The need to elucidate factors associated with COVID-19 inequity and identify tangible action steps continues. Kabarriti et al³ and Muñoz-Price et al⁴ delve deeper into the racial and ethnic disparities across the COVID-19 care continuum by presenting findings from their urban, single-center, cross-sectional studies in the Bronx, New York, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.