COVID-19 Pandemic: Disparate Health Impact on the Hispanic/Latinx Population in the United States

J Infect Dis. 2020 Oct 13;222(10):1592-1595. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa474.

Abstract

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, emerged in Wuhan, China, causing the coronavirus disease 2019 we now refer to as COVID-19. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 12 March 2020. In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed preexisting social and health disparities among several historically vulnerable populations, with stark differences in the proportion of minority individuals diagnosed with and dying from COVID-19. In this article we will describe the emerging disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Hispanic/Latinx (henceforth: Hispanic or Latinx) community in the United States, discuss potential antecedents, and consider strategies to address the disparate impact of COVID-19 on this population.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hispanic; Latinx; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; health disparity.

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus*
  • COVID-19
  • Comorbidity
  • Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / ethnology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / virology
  • Emigrants and Immigrants
  • Health Status Disparities*
  • Healthcare Disparities / ethnology
  • Hispanic or Latino*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / ethnology*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / virology
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • United States / epidemiology
  • United States / ethnology
  • Vulnerable Populations