COVID 19 Affect on some Ethnic and Racial Minority Groups

Running Head: RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS

RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUPS

Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups

COVID-19 Affect on some Ethnic and Racial Minority Groups

Introduction

Long-standing social inequalities have placed several individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups at a raised risk of acquiring COVID-19 and dying from it. Racial and ethnic minority groups include individuals of color with a range of experiences and backgrounds. However, some encounters are common to individuals within these groups. Social determinants of health have always barred them from having fair opportunities for emotional, physical, and economic well-being.

According to Kirby (2020), there is rising evidence that some racial and ethnic minority groups are affected disproportionately by COVID-19. Factors such as healthcare access and poverty affect these groups. To attain health equity, barriers must be eliminated so everybody can have a fair opportunity to be healthy. In the United States, Blacks are acquiring COVID-19 at an alarming rate, and they have a higher chance of dying from it than Whites. Blacks’ infection rates are 3-fold more heightened, and mortality rates are 6-fold higher in predominantly Black communities than White communities. Despite Hispanics making 43% of California’s total population, 70% of COVID-19 deaths constituted them. American Indians and Alaska natives also include a higher percentage of infections and deaths compared to Whites.

Factors that contribute to increased risk

There are several reasons why racial and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. However, economic and social factors are the main contributors. Most minorities live in small houses in which it is hard to isolate the sick. Most minority frontline workers who lack the luxury cannot stay at home or do teleworking. Tai et al., 2021 reveals that most minority groups consist of frontline workers (Shippee et al., 2020).

Moreover, only 20% of Blacks have the privilege of working from home compared to 30% of Whites. New York City’s comptroller report revealed that 75% of frontline workers are people in minority groups. Blacks consist of 40% of these workers, and 34% use public transportation means compared to Whites, who constitute 14%.

The striking variance in racial and ethnic impact of COVID-19 allows reaffirming the connection between occupation and health. Individuals from some racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately represented in essential work settings such as healthcare facilities and public transportation (Fairlie, Couch & Xu, 2020). People who work in these settings have higher chances of being exposed to COVID-19. This is due to several factors, such as not having paid sick days, not working from home, and close contact with the public or other workers. Some individuals from racial and ethnic groups stay in crowded places, making it hard to follow prevention approaches. In a few cultures, it is common for relatives to stay in one household. Additionally, developing and disproportionate unemployment rates for the minority groups during the pandemic can cause a higher risk of homelessness and eviction or sharing of rooms.

Individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups are likely to be uninsured than Whites-they have no access and utilization of health services (Fairlie, Couch & Xu, 2020). Healthcare access can be limited by discrimination in healthcare systems, cultural variations between providers and patients, language and communication barriers, and lack of transportation. Individuals from minority groups may hesitate to get care because they do not trust the system responsible for treatment inequities. This may be due to past occurrences such as the Tuskegee Research of Untreated Syphilis in Black males and their sterilization without informed consent. Unfortunately, discrimination exists in systems purposed to protect health. Racism can cause toxic and chronic stress, which increases the risk of racial and ethnic minority groups contracting COVID-19.

Gaps in wealth, income, and education have caused inequalities in access to high-quality education for minority groups. This can drive barriers to college entrance and low high school completion rates (Moore et al., 2020). This can bar future job alternatives and cause less stable and low-paying jobs. Individuals with limited job alternatives have no flexibility in leaving the job, which places them at a high exposure risk to the virus. Individuals in such cases usually cannot afford to miss work, even if they fall sick. This is because they need the money for their upkeep and buying essentials such as food.

In June 2020, the CDC revealed that 21.8% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. were Blacks, and 33.8% were Hispanics. This is although these minority groups consist of only 13% and 18% of the United States population, respectively (Moore et al., 2020). These data are limited by underreporting ethnicity and race by 47% and 43% of cases. In a report of the hospitalized patients, 33% were Blacks, despite only 18% of the area’s population. Over time, these numbers have changed, but the disproportionality has been consistent across the U.S.

A bigger societal lens is needed to understand disparities in healthcare access, preexisting health conditions, and additional factors that may cause the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minority groups. Social health determinants are the conditions in which individuals play, work, learn, and live, impacting a broad range of health outcomes and risks. Before the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic impacts, poverty rates in the U.S. were 19% for Hispanics, 22% for Blacks, and 24% for Native Americans, compared to 9% for Whites. Across all income ranges, the mean wealth of White households is ten times that of Blacks households. Nevertheless, these racial and ethnic minority populations have less financial ability to make healthful decisions in the middle of financial difficulties with the pandemic.

Living situations in some racial and ethnic minority populations further raise the risk for COVID-19 transmission and infection. Communities with higher ethnic and racial minority groups have greater housing density, more multigenerational households, portable water scarcity, and housing insecurity, making social distancing difficult. Similarly, there is always little access to healthy meals, making the management of chronic illnesses harder. Moreover, communities with more minority groups have a higher chance of being targeted for unhealthy marketing items such as fats, cigarettes, and alcohol, which can negatively influence chronic health conditions. Additionally, there is emerging evidence that air pollution, which is common in racial and ethnic minority communities, plays a crucial role in enhancing the severity of COVID-19.

Environment, host, and pathogen play a crucial role in racial and ethnic minorities in COVID-19.

A report given by Public Health England revealed that Blacks, the Chinese, Pakistani, and Indians had a higher mortality risk of between 10–50% compared to Whites when factors such as region, deprivation, and age were controlled (Shippee et al., 2020). The Fiscal Studies Institute showed that the disproportionate mortality among ethnic minority populations is starker when age is considered a factor. Most minority populations have an average young age than the White people, which indicates that the minority groups are less vulnerable and should be experiencing low death rates than average.

What are the Solutions for this Problem?

The principle of health equity is the underlying factor to help minimize and eliminate health disparities. This means striving for the highest possible health standards for all individuals and offering special attention to those in need, those at the most significant risk, and those with poor health conditions resulting from social situations (Fairlie, Couch & Xu, 2020). COVID-19’s potential silver lining is that it could be viewed as an opportunity and impetus to create approaches that would start to remove health inequalities in the U.S., this attaining health equity. The initial step is to acknowledge that COVID-19 related disparities are not the fault of those encountering them but instead the impact of social systems and policies that perpetuate and develop inequalities. In a recent American Medical Association editorial Journal, Cooper and Williams state that it can create a new type of herd immunity. By improving the current policies and implementing new ones, making investments needed to reduce social determinants of health among the disenfranchised and poor, populations will be better protected from future infections.

Conclusion

The pandemic may modify some of the ways people support and connect with others. As communities and individuals respond to COVID-19 circumstances and recommendations such as social distancing, workplace, and school closures, there are usually unintended adverse effects on emotional health such as loss of social support and connectedness. Cultural bonds, family, and shared faith are familiar sources of social support. Finding the means to maintain connection and support, even when people are physically apart, can encourage and motivate communities and individuals to better cope with stress, keep children healthy, take care of the sick, and protect themselves. Health care providers and systems, policymakers, public health agencies, faith-and community-based organizations have a considerable role to play in assisting in promoting fair access to health. To prevent the COVID-19 spread, people should learn to work together to ensure that individuals have resources to manage and maintain their mental and physical health, including mental health care, affordable testing, and easy access to information. We require practices and programs that fit the communities where minority and racial groups worship, play, work, learn, and stay.