Black and Latinx New Yorkers Are Dying From COVID-19 at Twice the Rate of Whites

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm May 19, 2020

Since February 29—before New York City began to stress social distancing due to rising COVID-19 cases—the novel coronavirus has killed Black and Latinx residents at twice the rate of White New Yorkers, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene confirmed in updated data on May 18.

The data, which focused primarily on people who reported severe illness, confirmed a total of 15,983 deaths in the city. Broken down by race, the death rates show a growing chasm in who survives and who doesn’t. For Latinx and Black residents, mortality rates were 212.79 and 204.79 per every 100,000 people, respectively. That’s compared to 102.94 and 94.75 for White and Asian New Yorkers.

It’s a huge jump; just over a month ago, when the health department shared numbers on those groups on April 6, it confirmed 21.3 deaths for every 100,000 Latinx New Yorkers, 23.1 for Blacks, 15.7 for Whites and 9.1 for Asians. To make matters worse, New Yorkers who live in high or very high poverty had death rates more than double that of people who live in low poverty.

The health department will update its tracking site daily, but the organization notes that health information may still be missing for race and ethnicity, as it is typically shared by funeral directors.

To keep up with the numbers, visit NYC’s Health Department’s COVID-19: Data site.