Coronavirus even more deadly for Hispanic and Black Americans than previously thought

CDC had come under fire for ignoring age with Covid-19 death data, prior to update

The coronavirus has been found to be even more deadly for Hispanic and Black Americans than previously thought, reanalysis of official data has shown.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hispanic and Black Americans were said to have died at a rate 2.1 times higher than that of white Americans, when data on Covid-19 deaths was previously released.

However, following pressure to adjust its findings to consider age, the CDC has found that Hispanic and Black Americans had actually died at a rate 2.8 times higher than that of white Americans.  

While CNBC first reported on the update statistics on Friday, it is not clear when the CDC republished them to its website.

Elizabeth Warren, the Senator for Massachusetts, had called on the CDC to reanalyse the disparities in coronavirus deaths, because — as she said in November — “comparing Covid-19 infection rates by race without also taking age into consideration is like comparing apples and oranges.”

While the median age for white Americans is 58, according to the US Census Bureau and Pew Research, the median age for Hispanic Americans is 11, and 27 for Black Americans.  

Ms Warren had warned that “young people of colour may be a lot more likely to be dying from Covid” than CDC analysis showed and, in a letter to CDC director Robert Redfield, said CDC statistics “do not tell the full story”.

The readjusted CDC data also revealed that American Indians or Alaska Natives’ death rate was 2.6 times higher than White Americans, CNBC reported, having previously been placed at 1.4.

Ms Warren said on Wednesday that “[the] CDC got our request, and has adjusted its official Covid-19 race/ethnicity mortality rates for age. The data show that Black, Latino, and Native Americans are dying of Covid-19 at a much higher rate than white Americans than they previously indicated.”

She also told CNBC in a statement that “This is a critical update that can help us better understand the true effect of Covid-19 on communities across the nation and begin to address the systemic inequity that exists in our health care system.”

The CDC has been contacted by The Independent for comment.