According to the data analysis by American Public Media (APM) Research Lab, health experts believe the pre-existing conditions are putting black communities disproportionately at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic: black people are more than twice as likely to die because of COVID-19 than white people are.

In a recent Star Tribune report, Joe Carlson writes that COVID-19 is exacerbating the long-standing differences in the health of racial groups in Minnesota. “Black Americans have about twice the risk as whites of developing a medical problem called peripheral artery disease (PAD), in which blood vessels in the legs become narrowed or blocked off. Severe untreated PAD can lead to amputation.”

In Hennepin County, white men get procedures to clear the leg-vessel blockages or place stents there five times more often than Black men. And Black women are 20 times less likely to get a revascularization, or unblocking of the vessels, according to public and proprietary data.

From the Star Tribune

According to a report, Boston Scientific (a Minnesota company) through its “Close the Gap” program is running disparities ads — in Dallas, New Orleans, Detroit, Minneapolis and online.

• COVID widens racial gap in Minnesota’s health care system
• Structural racism and health care
• Racial and Ethnic Health Reports

You have cities and government officials … being upfront and making these statements that racism is a public health crisis. And then to see that message echoed in this billboard by a private company, I thought was really striking

Prof. Sarah Gollust, University of Minnesota associate (source: The Star Tribune)

“To date, nearly 16,000 of the confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been in Black residents. That means African Americans account for 6% of the state population and 19% of the confirmed cases. Hispanic residents account for 5% of the state population but 17% of confirmed cases,” writes Joe Carlson in the Tribune.

“Having underlying health conditions makes people more likely to develop COVID-19 and need hospitalization if they get it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High rates of conditions like obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure in racial minority communities contribute to the higher risks.”

The roots of disparities reach back many generations in America, involving factors such as diet, lifestyle, health literacy, as well as genetics, place of birth, income level, family support and social biases. Many key drivers are socially determined, such as whether the person has access to stable housing, good grocery stores and health insurance with an adequate local network of doctors and clinics.

From the Star Tribune

Citing a new analysis from the Epic Health Research Network and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), the CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman writes “Racism and discrimination are factors that play a role in the larger number of minority deaths and hospitalizations from Covid-19”.

“Hispanics were more than two and a half times more likely to test positive for Covid-19, and Blacks and Asians were nearly twice as likely to test positive compared to Whites – and they were more likely to be hospitalized by the time they were tested”, writes the CNN citing the KFF analysis.