COVID-19 Cases and Deaths by Race/Ethnicity: Current Data and Changes Over Time
Taken from Kaiser Health News
By Latoya Hill and Samantha Artiga
February 22, 2022
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, analyses of federal, state, and local data have shown that people of color have experienced a disproportionate burden of cases and deaths. They have shown particularly large disparities in cases and deaths for Black and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people and in cases among Hispanic people compared to their White counterparts. Based on weekly data on COVID-19 infections and deaths from CDC, this analysis examines racial disparities in COVID-19 cases and deaths and how they have changed over time. It updates an October 2021 analysis to reflect data through early 2022, amid the recent surge associated with the Omicron variant.
Disparities in Total COVID-19 Cases and Deaths
Cumulative data over time show persisting disparities in cases for Hispanic people and deaths for Black people. As of February 15, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a total of over 61.4 million cases, for which race/ethnicity was known for 65% or over 40.3 million, and a total of over 780,000 deaths, for which race/ethnicity was known for 85% or over 660,000. These estimates are based on a subset of data for which case-level demographic information has been reported to CDC by state health departments so they differ from those reported elsewhere. For example, CDC reports a total of over 920,000 deaths from COVID as of February 15, 2022.