Social Inequities Explain Racial Gaps in Pandemic, Studies Find

This is a bit of a straw result. Nobody in academia thought black or Hispanic Americans were genetically homogeneous enough to be categorically more at risk to covid-19. Journalists perhaps did, but not scientists.

I wonder how much behavior affects Covid incidence. There have been a number of large gatherings here in Columbus at clubs with mostly Black clientele. Just google "Aftermath" venue in Columbus for one example. 500 people, mostly maskless, crowded into a room to hear Trey Songz.

If lower incomes and racial minorities tend to live in cities ought we not account for geography in assessing exposure response ?

I am wondering about the implications of this for prioritizing vaccine distribution. If, indeed black/Hispanic individuals are no more likely to be hospitalized or die from Covid than white persons, than this variable perhaps should not be included in priority considerations (as has been suggested). Rather, I suspect, that age is the biggest determinant of poor outcomes....across all demographics.....and priorities should be developed accordingy.

Despite blacks making up 6% of my city's population they make up probably 90% of the people I see not wearing a mask or wearing it incorrectly- such as it not covering their nose. It's doesn't seem like they considered that blacks are more likely to ignore guidelines. It's interesting that with the Hasidics people quickly zero in on behavior they participate in then makes them vulnerable to catching it. Yet it's assumed the higher rates among Blacks and Hispanics have nothing to do with similar careless behavior even but rather factors beyond their control. To me this is just an example of confirmation bias.

In most these types of things that are described as racial, the difference actually vanishes or goes way down when you control for class. This is even largely the case with police shootings. Yet the current culture of liberalism insists on talking only about race. Adolphe Reed explains this in detail: https://nonsite.org/the-trouble-with-disparity/

I use public transportation. Several times I have gotten off buses when they filled up with groups of unmasked people, often talking or singing loudly, getting close to anyone they wanted to. Sometimes I ended up walking several miles. On one occasion I cracked a window open, so to breathe some outside air. A large unmasked man near me demanded that I close it, and was not going to take No for an answer. I got off. On all these occasions I was the only white person on the bus, or nearly so. So, I do have a possible suggestion as to why certain groups are more likely to contract the virus -- even if is offensive to state the objective truth. Surely the virus has killed more Black Americans in this year alone than all the police forces have in the past century. Where is BLM when their outspoken leadership might really save lives?

"After accounting for various disparities, Dr. Ogedegbe found that infected Black and Hispanic patients were no more likely than white patients to be hospitalized. If hospitalized, Black patients had a slightly lower risk of dying." What's interesting is that early on we were hearing a theory that Blacks and Hispanics were getting poor healthcare because of racism and that's why they were dying. That obviously wasn't the case so now a new theory is being spun to advance critical race theory. But as always, we should be careful because as the former proves, we still don't have all the data yet. For one thing, socioeconomic status likely corresponds to education. You don't encounter that many PhDs using food stamps. It's entirely possible that education may correlate to say mask use or adherence to social distancing. It's also worth noting that household crowding is directly related to the number of children you have and predictably Black women and Hispanic women in particular have a higher birth rate than white or Asian women. It's a tenuous argument to say that racism causes you to have more children (particularly since the resulting demographic shifts are the opposite of what a racist would want).

Although this research and article is helpful, it’s also offensive. Of course there’s no innate reason COVID is ravaging Black Anerican communities! In addition to the lack of any genetic evidence about the virus, the success of African and Caribbean countries in limiting the spread of COVID compared to the U.S., which is rarely discussed, is real world massive proof that COVID morbidity is not racial but due to racial disparities in America. We need to address disparities in public health and education, the racial wealth gap and systemic racism. Research to rule out other reasons for disparate outcomes feels like we’re not facing our truths.

The disparate impact on Native American and Indigenous communities has been overwhelming. Just look at figures for the Navajo Nation. Literally existential crisis. The heroes there deserve mention too, as they work at personal peril to protect their people

At last the NYT acknowledges and underscores the fact that income level is a critically important aspect of Covid’s impact not just on Blacks but on multiple groups: “These differences [in Black vs White coronavirus tests and admissions] are entirely explained by socioeconomic factors....” “The larger issue is the role of social determinants of health,” Dr. Price-Haywood said. “Race is a social construct, not biological.” Thus it is the "social determinant" of economic status (poverty), not race or ethnicity, is the causal correlate of poor health outcomes. To put it another way, if poor Blacks (and Hispanics and other poor people) had more money, their health would improve. Yet in the US there are more poor Hispanics than there are poor Blacks and more poor Whites than there are poor Blacks. All of these groups, because of their poverty, are more likely to contract and have adverse reactions to Covid-19 and of course other diseases. Focusing on the problems and needs of only one minority group and excluding other, equally needy and downtrodden minorities and ethnic groups, can only promote and prolong divisiveness. The best way to solve these problems, and to restore national unity, is to make sure the dialog and actions called for in this article involve, and address the needs and concerns of, ALL poor Americans. Bernie Sanders was absolutely right about this, and I hope Joe Biden follows his lead in this area and especially in improving health and education.

"These differences are entirely explained by socioeconomic factors, researchers said." I live in Michigan. After the restrictions went into place, I personally observed that Black people here were not following the restrictions. In my diverse neighborhood, three Black households held very large house parties. One was a college student house that had multiple parties, every weekend, and another had a party so big, the house was full and it spilled outside into the yard. Based upon my observations, I started to suspect that the disease outbreak would disproportionately affect Black people where I live. I started searching the local news for wider confirmation of my suspicions and found articles like this: https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/04/04/detroit-police-department-begins-crackdown-on-large-gatherings-to-prevent-spread-of-coronavirus/ The article mentions the basketball hoops and their removal. This was a common initial thread in the early news about the outbreak. Chicago, Detroit and New York City all announced that they were removing basketball hoops to prevent scofflaws from violating the restrictions. There is nothing socioeconomic about following the restrictions. We need to increase the trust that Black and Hispanic people have for the police, the mayors, the governors, our government, our laws and medical care providers, despite a long history of abuse.

In the past two years the NYT has been obsessed with the problems of Black Americans. This article finally seems to acknowledge and underscore a critically important aspect of Covid’s impact on multiple groups: “These differences [in Black vs White coronavirus tests and admissions] are entirely explained by socioeconomic factors....” “The larger issue is the role of social determinants of health,” Dr. Price-Haywood said. “Race is a social construct, not biological.” Thus, it is largely economic status (poverty), not race or ethnicity, that correlates with poor health outcomes. To put it another way, if poor Blacks had more money, their health would improve. Yet in the US there are more poor Hispanics than there are poor Blacks and more poor Whites than there are poor Blacks. All of these groups, because of their poverty, are more likely to contract and have adverse reactions to Covid-19 and of course other diseases. Focusing on the problems and needs of only one minority group and excluding other, equally needy and downtrodden minorities and ethnic groups, can only promote and prolong divisiveness. The best way to solve these problems, and to restore national unity, is to make sure the dialog and actions called for in this article involve, and address the needs and concerns of, ALL poor people. Bernie Sanders was absolutely right about this, and I hope Joe Biden follows his lead in this area and especially in improving health and education.

The fascinating aspect of this study relates to my/our intuitive response that this difference may have been something other than exposure related. Rather than being specifically related to a chosen life style habit, or worse, a genetic predisposition it appears that the toll is due to socioeconomic factors outside of an individuals control. We must work harder to look at and correct health disparities due to socioeconomic factors and encourage our Government to stop calling economic support at this time a "stimulus" bill. Survival bill is more like it.

Black and Hispanic diets are heavier in carbs and sugar (fructose) because even prosperous folks inherit a culture that stressed inexpensive foods. High carb and fructose loads lead the liver to produce VLDLs which eventually produce small, dense LDL particles capable of penetrating tissues like arterial walls and lungs. These penetrations are attacked as invaders by the immune system. The immune system has a stepped response - first an innate response, then an antibody response. Since our diets cause chronic small, dense LDL generation, our innate immune systems are chronically turned on and depleted, instead of quietly awaiting invaders. So, the immune systems of carbs and sugar eaters are less able to tamp down the initial inroads of Covid-19.

For those familiar with public health statistics, lower socioeconomic status (SES) is almost inseparable from higher rates of disease, death and shorter life spans. This has been consistent in public health data throughout countries and through more than two centuries of public data in England. (SES is commonly determined by education, income and type of occupation.) Knowing this, why not rail against economic injustice? It is not just minorities who suffer from the consequences of poverty. Since whites are still a majority group at 60%, in absolute numbers, there are likely more whites in low SES categories and poor health than any other ethnic group in the US. (I've read they are the most numerous recipients of food stamps.) The emphasis of social injustice to one or another of our several minority groups is, not only intrinsically divisive, but it skews the problem away from the causes of ill health. These causes are amenable to legislative changes. Isn't it time to unite our country in pursuit of the common good?

Once again, Asian Americans do not exist and the only identifiable ethnicity is Hispanic. Sure.

NYT needs to include all low income workers in the "disproportionately affected" group. It's not race or ethnicity, it's what job you hold.

The more places stories like this appear, the better. The results should not be shocking, based on what we've known: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2021209 ("Covid and Health Equity...", 17 Sept 2020). The history goes back much further, but has been magnified during this current COVID pandemic. You can see some recent results here, state by state: https://covidtracking.com/race/dashboard .

A much simpler explanation than “systemic racism” is that skin color affects Vitamin D production. Darker skinned persons produce less Vitamin D in average than lighter skinned person. Insufficient vitamin D levels are widespread in minority communities. Sufficient Vitamin D levels lower Covid complication rates by 70 percent. Vitamin D supplementation can largely address this problem.

Every media piece I have seen reported that the disproportionate impact on POC is somehow "racist". The focus should have been completely different from the beginning. First of all, there should have been a lot more thought given to how to get messaging out to this community. Secondly, the message should not have been an academic/social scientist message that the disparate impact was due to racism and structural this or that. The message should have been, and still should be, a straightforward one: "This virus is coming straight at your community. You are at particular risk. All the data so far proves it. Take every precaution you can." I have just had work done on my driveway. When I go outside to speak to the Hispanic workmen, I wear a mask. Not a single one of them is wearing a mask, though they are working side by side. This epidemic has been characterized by a lot of what I refer to as the "I didn't get the memo" effect.

Sure - let's cross those results to the distribution of fines for violating pandemic rules and see what we uncover. Wait - we already know - racial differences in behavior - at least being captured by the rate of censure for pandemic violations is quite clear.

I don't know how they could possible be so surprised. This was the most obvious explanation.

“These differences are entirely explained by socioeconomic factors, researchers said.” .... so it’s a socioeconomic issue, not a racial one? Perhaps this paper’s preoccupations are misplaced.

Perhaps, there is more to it than mere close contact and overcrowding? If that is the case, the majority of the population living in urban areas in India would have succumbed to it? Overcrowding could be one important factor in this still poorly understood infection.

This article should not be under the science and technology section. This is an opinion piece. Scientific research does not support the author’s conclusions. Check out the scientific journal ‘Nature’—as well as other scientific journals—for information on clusters of genes on chromosome 3 that increase the risk of respiratory failure upon infection of COVID. 16% of Europeans and those of European descent carry these risk factor alleles compared to over 50% of non-Europeans or those of non-European descent. In addition, type O blood appears to be protective (lower risk factor for COVID). Far fewer people of non-European descent in the US have the protective type O blood type than Europeans or those of European descent. This is the genetic luck of the draw and it’s very possible that with another type of pandemic—such as bubonic plague, which killed 400,000 Europeans a year in the 1700’s—would result in those of European descent faring worse than those of non-European descent. Why? Because if all humans carried the same immune genes, the species as a whole could be wiped out with a single disease.

"For example, the federal government could have protected citizens from risky work situations by providing income subsidies allowing them to stay home, Dr. Zelner said. " How would that work? If all these people had stayed home, those staying at home would have no food, no electricity, no water, and no garbage collection. No matter how bad things get, somebody has to go to work, and these are the essential jobs.

I have been working with covid patients through the pandemic. I applaud the researchers. And I'm not even a little bit surprised by their findings. Our first wave was almost entirely the families of low-income essential workers without the luxury of staying home and without employers who provided PPE or safe working conditions. Food packers, van drivers, home health aids. Almost all of them were people of color. They included very poor Asian Americans, who are often forgotten about because their plight is lost amid data on white-collar Asian Americans or because language barriers keep them from getting tested. And many of them were immigrants. We owe them for the food we eat. The deliveries we receive. The corner stores that have stayed open.

What would happen if economic demographics were used? We know the variant between Euro-Americans< Latinx, and African-Americans, but what weldon't look at are the purely economic numbers for all the economic deic=vides, health ,education, drug addiction, incarceration etc. this in no way is intended to diminish the fact that lower economic circumstances, especially if they are generations long, is not a great injustice.

This piece argues that because minorities infected with COVID die at the same rate as whites, it follows that minorities' higher rate of infection with COVID has nothing to do with innate factors, but is all externally caused. Well, of course, because 'race is not biological, race is not real.' That is a complete non-sequitur. Biological factors could contribute to higher COVID incidence in minority populations, without causing higher mortality once people are infected. The article doesn't discuss whether the scientists carefully controlled for socioeconomic differences between infected populations of different races, but that would be necessary to show that differences in infection rate are due to external, socioeconomic factors, with no contribution from biology.