COVID19 hits youth of color hardest
Majority of those under 21 who die are Black, Latino, Native American
Although a small proportion of people under the age of 21 are dying from complications associated with COVID19 in the U.S., a disproportionate number of these deaths are in communities of color, according to a new report issued by the CDC Tuesday.
The report confirms that coronavirusrelated complications and illness in younger populations are less severe than those among older demographics, with 121 deaths reported out of 391,814 youth cases nationwide between February and July. But more than 3 out of 4 of those deaths (78%) were persons of Latino, Black and American Indian/ Alaska Native descent.
The fatalities studied also skewed heavily male (63%) and were primarily suffered by those ages 10 to 20 years old (70%).
The CDC report comes at a time when communities across the country are struggling to find safe and effective ways to reopen schools and resume education during the pandemic.
“Careful monitoring of (COVID19) infections, deaths, and other severe outcomes among persons (under the age of 21) remains particularly important as schools reopen in the United States,” the report cautioned. “Ongoing evaluation of effectiveness of prevention and control strategies will also be important to inform public health guidance for schools and parents and other caregivers.”
Much like the overall population, preexisting conditions appear to play a major role in negative outcomes from COVID19 among young people, with 75% of youth fatalities having at least one underlying medical problem. Among the most common conditions reported among the deceased were asthma (28%), obesity (27%) and cardiovascular conditions (18%).
Communities of color have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, accounting for a disproportionately higher number of cases and deaths across the country — a pattern reflected in Tuesday’s report. Public health experts and community advocates have said people who work essential jobs and live in crowded housing — often lowincome people of color — are at greater risk of contracting the virus.
Statewide, California public health officials recently announced that they are preparing “health equity measures” that counties will have to satisfy in hardhit communities as part of the state’s new system for determining when counties can reopen businesses.
“Among infants, children, and adolescents hospitalized with laboratoryconfirmed COVID19 ... persons from racial and ethnic minority groups are overrepresented,” the CDC report concluded. “These racial/ethnic groups are also disproportionately represented among essential workers unable to work from their homes, resulting in higher risk for exposure to SARSCoV2 with potential secondary transmission among household members, including infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.
“In addition, disparities in social determinants of health, such as crowded living conditions, food and housing insecurity, wealth and educational gaps, and racial discrimination, likely contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in COVID19 ... incidence and outcomes.”
The report pointed to underlying socioeconomic issues that compound the severity of the coronavirus among minorities.
According to the CDC, “Higher rates of adverse outcomes among racial and ethnic minorities are likely related to challenges in seeking care for various reasons, including difficulty and delays in accessing health care services because of lack of insurance, child care, transportation, or paid sick leave, and social determinants of health that contribute to higher prevalence of medical conditions.”
Here in the Bay Area, and across California, the same sociological realities have played a role in the spread of coronavirus and COVID19.
“That’s how the rest of the pandemic skews,” said Dr. Kirsten BibbinsDomingo, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF. “What we see here in children is what we know in adults, where we see more infections and larger numbers among Black, Latino and Indigenous communities who are being disproportionately affected by COVID19. It’s not surprising that (minority) adults are more likely to acquire this, and they’re more likely to spread it among household members.”
BibbinsDomingo, who studies the spread of disease across diverse communities, believes Tuesday’s CDC study provides a clear path going forward.
“It highlights the urgency to address the impact on Latino, Black and Indigenous communities,” she said. “Severe outcomes are uncommon among the youth, but they do exist.
“What we have seen in California is that Latinos make up over half of the cases. The Black community is overrepresented in deaths . ... (The spread is) happening at younger ages, and it’s not always benign. We need to be concerned because we won’t get this pandemic under control until we address this issue.”