The effects of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minority groups’ health are still emerging; however, current data suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups. Yet, no one has mentioned the devastation it has had on the Homeless population. Human deaths were 61 percent higher than all groups. The majority of the homeless population is minorities.

A recent CDC MMWR report included race and ethnicity data from 580 patients hospitalized with lab-confirmed COVID-19 found that 45% of individuals for whom race or ethnicity data was available were white, compared to 59% of individuals in the surrounding community.

However, 33% of hospitalized patients were black, compared to 18% in the community, and 8% were Hispanic, compared to 14%. These data suggest an overrepresentation of blacks among hospitalized patients.

Among COVID-19 deaths for which race and ethnicity data were available, New York City pdf icon external icon identified death rates among black/African American persons (92.3 deaths per 100,000 population). Hispanic/Latino persons (74.3) that were substantially higher than that of white (45.2) or Asian (34.5) persons.