According to a recently published report from the CDC, Black, Latino and Native American children are dying at a disproportionately higher rate than their white counterparts from COVID-19.
The study, published on September 18, documented 391,814 known cases and 121 deaths among people under the age of 21 in five months ranging from February to July.
With the academic school year well underway, the CDC’s report is rather alarming.
Although combined, the three groups represent 41% of the population in this nation, over 75% of the children who have died from complications of COVID-19 have been Black, Hispanic and American Indian kids. The data is on par with a CDC report published in July on the inordinate coronavirus mortality rate among Black and Hispanic adults. Both studies collected data from various local health departments.
The virus is also killing those groups due to lack of proper diagnoses and the varying ways the virus can present itself within individuals. Hispanic children lead the number of deaths with an astounding 45%, 29% for Black children and 4% for kids of American Indian descent.
The new CDC report also reiterated that the deadliness of coronavirus increases with age. Only 10% of child deaths occurred in infants age one or younger.
Monika Goyal, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist, published an unrelated report in the American Academy Journal of Pediatrics that expounded on the findings.
“Children tested for SARS-CoV-2 through a community-based testing site, racial/ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged children carry the highest burden of infection," Goyal wrote. "Understanding and addressing the causes of these differences are needed to mitigate disparities and limit the spread of infection."
She noted that underlying health conditions like asthma, obesity and cardiac issues were also a risk factor for children. The report also stated 75% of the children who died had at least one underlying condition.
The NAACP also weighed in on the effects of COVID-19 and school-aged children in a statement on its website.
“From individual families to the country as a whole, the pandemic has revealed how crucial early care and learning, educations systems and traditional after school supports are to our national wellbeing," the statement read. "The crisis has also laid bare the economic and racial disparities that persist and preclude equal access to these essential public goods.“
As the end of COVID-19 appears to be nowhere in sight, it's critical lawmakers have to develop solutions to eradicate the inequities of the effects of coronavirus on minority communities.
