Hispanic community has the highest death rate from COVID-19 in NY
NEW YORK- April 10, 2020 - The coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people in the State of New York, with Wednesday being the day that most deaths were reported in one day, 779 new deaths, since the outbreak began.
In the State, the Hispanic community has the highest number of deaths from COVID-19, as revealed by new data on death rates by race, age, and other factors, shared on the page of the New York Department of Health on Wednesday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio shared the information at his press conference Wednesday morning, where he noted that 34% of people who have died from the coronavirus in New York City are from the Hispanic community, which encompasses a 29% of the city's population.
On the other hand, the African American community, which is 22% of the population of the Big Apple, is second in the mortality rate with 28% of deaths from COVID-19. Followed by white with 27%, and Asian with 4%.
“There are data that we have known and are related to who are being most affected by this disease, and there is no doubt that all communities have been impacted, however, the data has shown that there is an inequality in resources in certain communities of the city, ”said Mayor Bill de Blasio during the conference.
According to de Blasio, this inequality is due to the poor access that many people have had for decades to a health system, not having the economic resources to get health care and to the levels of poverty.
For this reason, the mayor says, that it is necessary to look for new strategies to end these inequalities that are being reflected in how the disease affects the most vulnerable communities. And while those strategies are to help all New Yorkers regardless of origin, age, or race, they will also be strongly focused on helping the most vulnerable communities and people.
"If there are communities that need more resources, we are going to use this data to see how we can help them and thus save lives," said the mayor. In addition, he stressed that at the moment there are several resources in different languages to reach different communities, but more work needs to be done on this.
"The Hispanic community is large in the city, almost 3 million people in terms of population, so we have to work on giving more resources in other languages because many are not receiving enough information that they need," said the mayor. In addition, he noted that what has happened in recent years with the immigration status of people, including undocumented immigrants, may have caused many to move away from seeking help or take advantage of resources that could help them.
On her part, New York City Health Department Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said the department is working on a campaign targeting the Hispanic community.
"In terms of the people who have died from COVID-19 we noticed that Latinos are dying more than any group in the city and this concerns us," said Dr. Oxiris Barbot at the conference. "We are launching an information campaign to ensure that information on how to deal with COVID-19 reaches the community."
"This campaign will be launched this week and we will also be collaborating with our colleagues in other parts of the city to make sure that health care and services reach people in need," added the commissioner.
The doctor also referred to social inequality and how this is a sample of what the community has lived through for years; for example, with people who do not have economic resources and suffer from chronic diseases. In addition to these health problems, there are also obstacles due to the immigration status, and many factors that can bring difficulties "but we will not know until we have more data."
On his part, the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, during his daily conference on Wednesday afternoon wondered why the most affected are the Hispanic and African-American communities and why the people with the least economic resources are those who end up paying the highest price. For this reason, he indicated, that they will carry out research to understand why minorities face this situation and why some neighborhoods are more affected.
The data shared by the New York City Department of Health shows how Queens and The Bronx are among the most affected counties where there are a large number of residents of the Hispanic community.
The governor assured that they will carry out more tests in the most vulnerable communities.
For information on the resources the City offers to New Yorkers, including undocumented immigrants and people in our community, visit this page.
To see the updated mortality rates and the number of cases go to this link.
