Washington Post new analysis shows that communities of color continue to die from the coronavirus at much higher rates than Whites.

‘I just pray God will help me’: Racial, ethnic minorities reel from higher covid-19 death rates While overall fatality rates have plummeted since the spring, experts say many of the deaths in minority communities are preventable. Dan Keating, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Gabriel Florit, Chris Alcantara Washington Post

.... Nearly nine months after the virus exploded in the United States, and amid big treatment strides, the disease continues to ravage African American and other minority communities with a particular vengeance.

Black, Asian, Native American and Hispanic patients still die far more frequently than White patients, even as death rates have plummeted for all races and age groups, according to a Washington Post analysis of records from 5.8 million people who tested positive for the virus from early March through mid-October....

... as another wave of infections sweeps across the country this fall, losses among racial and ethnic minorities remain disproportionately large. Black Americans were 37 percent more likely to die than Whites, after controlling for age, sex and mortality rates over time. Asians were 53 percent more likely to die; Native Americans and Alaskan Natives, 26 percent more likely to die; Hispanics, 16 percent more likely to die. Those higher case fatality rates for diagnosed people of color are on top of the increased infection rates for those unable to isolate at home because they are essential workers.

These patterns have devastated communities of color across the country: multigenerational Latino households in Texas, Pacific Islander families in Washington state, African American families in South Carolina.

Advocacy groups, researchers and other experts say many of these deaths are preventable, and they blame federal, state and local leaders for failing to take the disparities seriously and take steps to address them.

The shortage of testing in communities of color, which made headlines in the beginning, persists to this day. ...

Critics also point to spotty race data, which has made disparities harder to identify and solve; weak enforcement of protocols like mask-wearing and social distancing at essential workplaces; delays in translating critical health alerts into other languages; conflicting guidance from health agencies that deepened distrust in some communities; economic and cultural factors that lead more families to live in multigenerational homes; and immigration policies that exacerbate crowded housing and discourage people from seeking medical care. ...

Faced with extreme disparities in covid-19 deaths, Michigan officials undertook a series of steps, from boosting testing to connecting people of color with primary care doctors. The state’s rapid progress proves the issues are neither intractable, nor rooted somehow in biology. ...

Editor's note:  See full story for graphs