A Racist Virus
By: Noam Goldberg
Despite accounting for 13% of the US population, African Americans comprise 33% of people who have been hospitalized by COVID-19, and 34% of COVID-19 deaths according to local data reported by 26 states. Though it may appear to be a ‘racist virus,’ this phenomenon may be explained by a number of factors which have allowed for African Americans to suffer disproportionately from COVID-19.
Perhaps one explanation is the known comorbidity factors such as “obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes among African Americans compared with whites.” 89% of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 have at least one chronic health condition, 50% high blood pressure and obesity, 33% cardiovascular disease, and approximately 33% had diabetes. The figures demonstrate that those with chronic health conditions such as these are clearly more susceptible to coronavirus. Studies have shown that those suffering from obesity, for example, are less protected by the flu vaccine. Due to worse-functioning and consequently insufficient immune responses – both to the vaccine and the virus itself – those with obesity tend to get sicker from the flu even if they’ve been immunized.
Studies have also shown that African Americans may potentially have genetic risk factors that make them more salt-sensitive, which, in turn increases the likelihood that blacks will experience more serious forms of COVID-19 as a result of high blood pressure.
Thirdly, racial discrimination and poverty among African Americans may contribute to a disproportionate number of blacks with chronic stress relative to other racial groups, a condition which “can make one more vulnerable to infection because it can lower your body’s ability to fight off an infection.” Studies have shown that among people exposed to a virus, those with higher levels of stress are more likely to catch a cold.
Beyond uncontrollable genetic factors and the prevalence of chronic conditions in general among African Americans, social factors responsible for African Americans’ increased risk to COVID-19 are perhaps the most combatable and reversible. These aspects of “structural racism” can be seen in the increased likelihood that black workers “hold the kinds of jobs that cannot be done from home” relative to white workers, as well as the “bias among health care workers, institutions, and systems that results in black patients […] receiving fewer medical procedures and poorer-quality medical care than white individuals.”
When we discriminate and allow our biases to disproportionately affect certain segments of society, we see that the virus does, as well. The disproportionate effect of the coronavirus on black Americans will hopefully illuminate underlying issues of discrimination within society. Particularly, we must become more aware of the ways in which we have allowed for the creation of the economic and social conditions in which some remain safe and secure, while entire racial and socioeconomic groups – including some of the most vulnerable – are hit the hardest and helped the least. Once we become aware of these issues, as a supposed global leader in healthcare and the economy, we must work towards finding a better solution.