Low-Income and Communities of Color at Higher Risk of Serious Illness If Infected with Coronavirus

ABSTRACT

From the Document The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. has steadily climbed and is now the highest in the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local governments continue to release data about the characteristics of people who have developed serious illness when infected with coronavirus, as well as the number of hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]. [...] To provide greater insight into the characteristics of people at greater risk of illness if infected with the novel coronavirus, we build on a prior analysis of higher risk adults in the U.S. to break down these numbers by race/ethnicity and household income in 2018. Our definition of higher risk includes non-elderly adults between the ages of 18 and 64 with heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), uncontrolled asthma, diabetes, or a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40, following the risk factors identified by the CDC.COVID-19 (Disease);Public health;Health and race;Health risk assessment;Poor