Study: Residential segregation significant factor in COVID-19 spread

A new national study found that counties with the highest percentage of white residents have had the lowest rates of coronavirus infections, an indication that residential segregation is a significant factor in the pandemic’s spread (Source: “Residential segregation plays a role in coronavirus disparities, study finds,” Washington Post, Aug. 17, 2020).

That doesn’t mean white people have more immunity but rather that they have been better able to limit their exposure than have Black people, Latinos and Native Americans, who have been disproportionately infected by the novel coronavirus and killed by COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.

Neither does it mean that people of color are engaging in reckless behavior, according to the study by amfAR. Rather, their higher rate of infection is due to “poverty and living in densely occupied households, living in localities with greater air pollution, lack of health insurance and being employed in jobs that increase exposure to” the coronavirus.

“We need to stop victim-blaming communities of color for these types of diseases,” Greg Millett, vice president and director of public policy for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, said in a recent interview about the study, which notes a similar pattern for infection rates for HIV. “Where you live determines your health in the United States … and we need to take immediate action to make sure we reduce these disparities in communities of color.”

The Health Policy Institute of Ohio last week released a new data brief, "Connections between Racism and Health: Taking Action to Eliminate Racism and Advance Equity" and an accompanying resource page to support state and local efforts to eliminate racism.