According to the study released by amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, counties with large African American populations, which constitute only 22 per cent of US counties, are 'bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic'.
Black counties account for only 13 per cent of the US population, but those counties account for 52 per cent of coronavirus cases and 58 per cent of COVID-19 deaths.
'Many people have observed large and consistent disparities in COVID-19 cases and deaths among black Americans, but these observations have largely been anecdotal or have relied on incomplete data,' amfAR VP and Director of Public Policy Greg Millett, the study’s lead investigator, said in the report.
'This analysis proves that county-level data can be used to gauge COVID-19 impact on black communities to inform immediate policy actions,' Millett added.
Researchers looked at coronavirus cases and deaths in more than 3,100 counties between late January to mid-April.
They found that disproportionately black counties, mostly in the South, have significantly higher rates of infection and mortality.
'COVID-19 deaths were higher in disproportionally black rural and small metro counties,' researchers wrote.
For this study, data was collected on April 13 when there were more than 547,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US and at least 21,634 deaths.
'The study clearly showed that COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths increased in counties with a greater proportion of black residents,' the researchers wrote.
Counties with high levels of uninsured people and crowded households were at increased risk for acquiring COVID-19, the study found.
'Collectively, these data demonstrate significantly higher rates of COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths in disproportionately black counties compared to other counties, as well as greater diabetes diagnoses, heart disease deaths, and cerebrovascular disease deaths in unadjusted analyses,' the researchers said.
The study was led by researchers at amfAR, four universities and the Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access at PATH.
In the United States, there are more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases with at least 72,000 deaths.
Among the cities where black residents have been hard-hit include Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans and Milwaukee.
In Chicago, 72 per cent of the deaths have been black residents despite them only making up 30 per cent of the city's population.
Counties with high levels of uninsured people and crowded households were at increased risk for acquiring COVID-19, the study found.
'Collectively, these data demonstrate significantly higher rates of COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths in disproportionately black counties compared to other counties, as well as greater diabetes diagnoses, heart disease deaths, and cerebrovascular disease deaths in unadjusted analyses,' the researchers said.
The study was led by researchers at amfAR, four universities and the Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access at PATH.
In the United States, there are more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases with at least 72,000 deaths.
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