New data underscore Covid-19's disproportionate impact on minority groups

People from racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. are continuing to face the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research shows. In a study of Covid-19 hospitalizations in 12 states between the end of April and end of June, researchers found that in all the states, the percent of hospitalized patients who were Black exceeded the percent of the state's residents who were Black. Black people account for only 10% of Indiana residents, for example, but 28% of its hospitalized Covid-19 patients. The same held true for Hispanic patients in 10 of the 12 states studied.

And in another new study, this one looking at data on workplace outbreaks in Utah between March and June, researchers found that non-white people accounted for nearly 75% of Covid-19 cases tied to workplace outbreaks, despite making up only one-quarter of the working population. Manufacturing, construction and wholesale trade workers were among those most affected.