Tag Archives: demographic

King County totals show communities of color face higher COVID-19 risks

Posted on by

Capitol Hill Station apartment and retail construction has kicked back into motion with crews OK’d to come back to work following a weeks-long shutdown to help slow the spread of COVID-19. You’ll see the workers, like the rest of us, wearing face coverings — and you’ll see that many if not most of the workers are Hispanic.

With the state’s economy in the early stages of reopening, service employees and construction crews are part of a first wave of workers helping Washington walk the precarious line of starting up its economy while also trying to stay healthy. But a report from Public Health shows the risk isn’t being equally shared. In King County, Hispanic people have died from COVID-19 at a rate 2.5 times higher than that of white people. Meanwhile, Hispanic, Black, and Pacific Islander groups also have been infected and hospitalized at higher rates.

“The updated analysis reinforces findings from other metropolitan areas and states across the United States. In King County, Public Health and community-facing task forces have been concerned since the beginning of this epidemic – that COVID-19 is exacerbating health inequities and is likely to take the biggest toll on communities already disadvantaged due to a long history of structural racism – ranging from housing policies to discrimination in health care, and more,” a report from the county on the findings reads.

And the problem grew as the number of cases in the county increased even as information about “social distancing” and “stay home” restrictions spread. Continue reading →