The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now reporting national data on confirmed COVID-19 cases by both race and ethnicity. The virus appears to be having a disproportionate effect on people of color, with African Americans, who make up 13% of the U.S. population, accounting for 34% of confirmed cases where race and ethnicity are known. Race and ethnicity data are unavailable for roughly two-thirds of U.S. cases. The CDC numbers are in keeping with earlier state data. African Americans accounted for more than half the COVID-19 deaths in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia and three-quarters of such deaths in Washington, D.C. In Wisconsin and Iowa, Hispanics were overrepresented among confirmed cases relative to their presence in the population. (Kaiser Family Foundation story, 4/21/20)
