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As many as 215,000 more people than usual have died in the United States in the first seven months of 2020, suggesting the number of lives lost to the coronavirus is significantly higher than the official toll. And half of the dead were people of color – blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and, to a large extent unrecognized so far, Asian Americans.
New figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight a clear disparity: Deaths among minorities during the crisis have risen far more than among whites, including in hard-hit New Jersey.
At the end of July, the official death toll from COVID-19 in the United States was around 150,000 people. It has since grown to over 170,000 people.
But public health authorities have long known that some coronavirus deaths, especially early on, have been wrongly attributed to other causes, and that the crisis may have indirectly led to the loss of many other lives by preventing or reducing discouraging people with other serious illnesses from seeking treatment. .
A tally of deaths from all causes over the seven-month period gives what experts consider a more complete – and more alarming – picture of the disaster and its racial dimensions.
People of color make up just under 40% of the US population, but accounted for about 52% of all above-normal “extra deaths” through July, according to Associated Press and The Marshall analysis Project, a non-profit news organization covering the criminal justice system.
In New Jersey, Hispanics, Blacks and Asian Americans have all seen a dramatic and disproportionate increase in deaths compared to previous years. With the Garden State an epicenter for the coronavirus, deaths have increased 124% among Hispanics this year compared to the past five-year average, according to the analysis. Deaths among Asian Americans have increased 107% and 68% among blacks. Among whites, deaths increased by 28%.
“The toll from the pandemic shows how pervasive structural racism is,” said Olugbenga Ajilore, senior economist at the Center for American Progress, a public policy organization in Washington.
Previous data on cases, hospitalizations and deaths have revealed the particularly heavy toll of blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans, a disparity attributed to unequal access to health care and economic opportunities. Gov. Phil Murphy has expressed concern about racial disparities in the Garden State, as have public health experts and social justice advocates.
But nationally, increases in the total number of deaths by race have not been reported so far; nor the disproportionate burden on Asian Americans.
With the new data, Asian Americans are joining blacks and Hispanics among the hardest-hit communities, with deaths in each group of at least 30% this year compared to the average for the past five years, according to analysis. Deaths among Native Americans have increased by more than 20%, although this is likely a severe undercount due to a lack of data. Deaths among whites rose 9%.
Across the country, the toll of Asian Americans has received much less attention, perhaps in part because the death toll – around 14,000 more than normal this year – has been far lower than that of several other groups. Yet the 35% increase in deaths among Asian Americans is the second highest, behind Hispanic Americans.
In an average year, some 1.7 million people die in the United States between January and the end of July. This year, the figure was around 1.9 million, according to the CDC.
Of the 215,000 additional possible above-normal deaths through July – a total that has since risen to 235,000 – most have been officially attributed to coronavirus infections. The rest were blamed on other causes, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and other types of respiratory disease.
The CDC has yet to provide a breakdown by race and ethnicity of deaths from other causes. Newly published data is considered provisional and subject to change as new information arrives. Certain categories of death – suicides or drug overdoses, for example – often involve lengthy investigations before a cause is attributed.
For New Jersey, NJ Advance Media began tracking additional deaths in May, when they showed the state’s official coronavirus death toll was potentially 20% underestimated. But as the state continued to count deaths – including the addition of more than 1,800 probable COVID deaths at the end of June – that gap appeared to disappear, with the two numbers tied.
New Jersey’s tally on Friday stood at 15,941 dead. The state partially follows racial breakdowns and estimates that 53.3% of COVID deaths are white, 19.4% are Hispanic, 18.5% are black and 5.4% are Asian – numbers that do not suggest the disparity between Asian Americans as the Associated Press and The Marshall Project analysis showed.
The epidemic’s disproportionate effect on communities of color is not confined to a specific region of the country.
The virus first hit urban areas on the east and west coasts. But according to Carrie Henning-Smith, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, disparities have also been seen as the disease spreads across the country into southern and western states with large rural populations.
For example, Arizona has reported nearly 60% more Native American deaths so far this year compared to previous years, and New Mexico has recorded over 40% more. Between the two states, more than 1,100 more Native Americans have died than normal.
Another surprise: only about half of Asia-American deaths have been officially linked to COVID-19, less than for all other groups. Jarvis Chen, a professor at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, said Asian Americans may not be tested at the same rate as other groups, for reasons that are unclear. and that could lead to some virus deaths being attributed to something else.
Northwestern University’s Dr. Namratha Kandula echoed this theory. She also cautioned against the generalization of the underlying health of Asian Americans as a whole, noting that they are a diverse group of many different nations and cultures.
“It is not enough to put them together because that does not tell the whole story,” she said.
Charlton Rhee, whose parents came to the United States from South Korea, lost them both to COVID-19 this spring as the virus increased in New York City.
Her mother, Eulja Rhee, went out one day, and when she returned, “she told me someone had coughed in her face” as she got off a bus, said Rhee, administrator of a retirement home in Queens. “She was wearing a mask, but it got into her eyes.”
She died in hospital, just before her 75th birthday.
Rhee found out a day later that her father, Man Joon Rhee, had tested positive. “He had caught it from my mother,” he said. “His heart was broken. And he told me he wanted to know if it was OK to be with mom.
He stayed at home, received palliative care and died at age 83.
“The Asian-American community suffered a lot during this time,” and government officials provided little help, especially at the start, Rhee said. Community associations had to intervene with food drives, personal protective equipment and other forms of assistance.
Racial disparities in death predate COVID-19 and many forces combine to produce them: some communities of color are more likely to have lower incomes and share a living space with larger families, which increases the risk of transmission. They have higher rates of health problems including diabetes, obesity and lung conditions, the result of living in places where healthier food is harder to come by and the environment is polluted. These same factors can make them more likely to get seriously ill or die from the coronavirus.
- They are most often uninsured and tend to live further away from hospitals.
- They are disproportionately incarcerated, which is linked to long term health effects.
- Experts point to a long history of discrimination that generates mistrust of the health care system.
- And people of color are more likely to fill critical roles that require them to continue working during the pandemic.
Dr Sobiya Ansari, who works primarily with black immigrant cancer patients in New York City, worries when they miss or postpone radiation therapy or screening. Already, the city has seen the number of black deaths double this year compared to previous years.
“If a storm hits and you’re safe inside your home, you’re safe,” she says. “Then there is a population of people who don’t even have umbrellas. The storm hits, and they’re just really blown away.
NJ Advance Media reporter Riley Yates contributed to this report.
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