You may or may not have heard that the recent global pandemic of the coronavirus is hitting black people disproportionately.
The problem appears to be much more of a concern in America, where it is disproportionately affecting and killing black people compared to white people.
It gets even more alarming when we put some actually values to this statement.
It seems that the majority of black counties have three times the rate of viral infection and almost six times the rate of deaths, when compared to white counties in the USA.
People want to know why, including American President Donald Trump, and we are only just starting to get some hard data surrounding the subject.
Researchers have been working hard to understand this subject, and now we are starting to get to grips with the reasons behind the problems.
The main reasons why are as follows:
- Black people have higher rates of underlying health conditions
This data has been around for a while, and has shown that black Americans tend to have higher rates of everything from hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and even lung disease. All of these medical issues are exacerbated by the coronavirus, which means they are particularly at risk. Black people also have less access to care as white people, which means that there is an unfair bias against them when medical issues are involved.
2. Black people have a lot of essential jobs
Black people are more likely to be employed in sectors that put their workers in close contact with others, which is obviously going to mean a higher possibility of infection. Black people have a lot of jobs like bus drivers, postal workers and other close contact jobs.
3. Housing
There have always been housing disparities for black people in America, with closer living situations and tightly-packed neighbourhoods, which is only going to spread the virus faster.
