Hardest Hit: Americans Dying Of Coronavirus At Higher Rates Than Immigrants, White Deaths Highest In Relation To Population | Blog Posts

Hardest Hit: Americans Dying Of Coronavirus At Higher Rates Than Immigrants, White Deaths Highest In Relation To Population

Linda Thom

04/29/2020

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Earlier: Covid-19 Deaths: Non-Hispanic Whites, Not Minorities, "Hardest Hit"—According To CDC Death Certificates

Are Americans dying of Covid-19 at greater rates than immigrants? Current death certificate data from the Centers for Disease Control suggest that may be the case. [Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): Data Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics, April 28, 2020]

The Centers for Disease Control has updated the provisional data on Covid-19 deaths as of April 28. Non-Hispanic whites are still dying at the highest rate of any other race or ethnic group. Non-Hispanic black deaths are slightly higher than their share of population. New states have been added since the provisional report last week because the data includes states with 100 or more deaths and there are more deaths.

In Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Wisconsin and Michigan, non-Hispanic blacks are dying at a higher rate than their weighted distribution of population. In no states are Hispanics dying in greater numbers than their share of population. Only in California are Asian deaths higher than their share of weighted population and it is by a slim margin.

In Arizona, Native Americans make up 2.2 percent of the weighted distribution of population but a shocking 28.6 percent of the Covid-19 deaths. Overall, in the U.S., Native American deaths and population distribution are equal.

As non-Hispanic whites and blacks are dying of Covid-19 at disproportionately high rates and Asians and Hispanics are not, might one conclude that Americans are being hit harder by the virus than are immigrants?

In the country as a whole, Hispanic and Asian Covid deaths are low. White and black deaths are high relative to their population distribution; white deaths are the highest.

In Florida and California, whites are dying in very high numbers. Illinois does, indeed, have a high rate of black deaths. Louisiana does also. I believe that was caused by all the revelers during Mardi Gras as the deaths started early in the spread.