Why is the death rate of Covid 19 higher in Europe and America?
Study shows that the death rate of covid-19 is much higher in Europe and USA. Is covid-19 linked with racial and ethnic basis? In this article I am showing you the research of Wisconsin department of health sciences of USA which reveals interesting data about covid-19 spread and its death rate.
Unequal and unjust impact of COVID-19
This pandemic reinforces the fact that every person's health is intertwined with the health of others in their community. However, the racial and ethnic disparities observed in these data demonstrate that Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other communities of color are suffering a disproportionate impact, and bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Difference between race and ethnicity
In our society, race and ethnicity are often used to group people according to shared characteristics or identities.
- Race refers to a person's physical traits such as facial features, hair, and skin color.
- Ethnicity refers to a person's cultural identity and regional ancestry.
The cause of racial and ethnicity disparities
Each person who tested positive was asked to identify with a race category and with or without a Hispanic ethnicity. It is important to note that qualities inherent to individuals of any given racial or ethnic background are not causing the disparities, rather, the differences in opportunity and resources between racial and ethnic groups have caused this unequal impact of COVID-19 in communities in Wisconsin.
Inequities caused by racism and other forms of discrimination are well documented and have intensified during the pandemic. A better understanding of how racism – systemic and otherwise – has exacerbated the disparate impacts of COVID-19 helps us to better serve these communities. Public health has long known that a person’s social, economic, and physical environment shape their health more than any other factor, and these factors are directly tied to racism.
Who is the most affected by covid-19 virus?
People who work in essential jobs or live in high-density housing are more likely to contract the virus because of unavoidable person-to-person interaction, and those who have less access to quality health care and certain chronic diseases have more severe outcomes.
These conditions for greater exposure and worse outcomes have been
concentrated in communities of color due to decades of deliberate policy
choices and racist institutional practices like systemic housing
discrimination of Black families, disinvestment from low-income
neighborhoods, and breaking treaties with Tribal nations.
Affect of social environment and economic circumstances
For example, racial residential segregation has led to poorly-funded schools and educational outcomes for these communities, resulting in employment opportunities that are limited to sectors with high-exposure, low-paying frontline jobs that provide little protections for workers’ rights, often do not come with benefits, and fail to provide adequate paid sick leave.
Furthermore, disinvestment from these neighborhoods has left communities with fewer grocery stores, lacking safe places to exercise, and more polluted air and water resulting in higher rates of chronic diseases, which can lead to more severe outcomes from COVID-19.
These long-standing unjust conditions become compounded by an unequal response when, for example, those in front line jobs, as well as the communities at large, are under-resourced with personal protective equipment, have limited access to testing, and lack the necessary investment in community infrastructure and public health to appropriately respond to a crisis of this magnitude.
Which community survived covid-19 virus?
These social factors, among others, vary by race and ethnicity because they have been and continue to be shaped by racism and discrimination, which create unfair vulnerabilities and barriers for these populations.
Despite these barriers, many tribes and communities of color have limited the devastating impacts of COVID-19 in their communities by working together as a community and taking public health precautions seriously, such as limiting their activity out in their communities, wearing face coverings, and physical distancing.
The case, hospitalization, and death data may not reflect the full extent of the disproportionate burden COVID-19 has had in some communities because these data depend on factors like access to testing and hospital care, which are disproportionately limited among communities of color, due to things like unequal access to transportation or health insurance.
These data represent the progression of the outbreak to-date and patterns of infection may change as the pandemic continues.
CREDIT:- All Credit Goes to https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/disparities.htm I used data from this website just for information purpose. All contents and data is belonged to this website.
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