Race as a Social Determinant of Health: Why Black Populations Are Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19

As COVID-19 continues to claim over one-thousand American lives a day, Black people have been up to twice as likely as the general population to die from the disease. The reasons for the striking racial disparity are complex, but often stem from social inequities that can create an elevated risk for contracting or dying from coronavirus, researchers say.

Those social determinants of health — such as food deserts, exposure to pollution, lower quality education, increased daily stress and low-paying jobs with less financial security — all contribute to worse healthcare outcomes among Black people, explained Dr. Monika Safford, chief of general internal medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center.