As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, experts warn of precautions citizens should take. But the precautions put in place, for lower-income populations, millions of homeless, and disabled people, are far beyond what they can afford.

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Evidence has shown that COVID-19 has hit lower-income communities the hardest throughout the nation. According to a map released by the New York City Department of Health, wealthier neighborhoods have a fewer number of coronavirus cases compared to lower-income neighborhoods.

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Using the data collected from the New York City Department of Health, linked here is an interactive map. 

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The Bronx is NYC’s hardest-hit borough from the coronavirus, leading with over 37,000 confirmed cases. 

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The Bronx is not only the poorest borough in the city, but according to City and State New York, the 15th District (NY-15) has been the poorest district in the nation since 2010. 

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According to USA Today, the median income per household in the Bronx is less than $40,000. About 30 percent of Bronx residents live below the poverty line. The Bronx is ranked the last out of all 62 counties in NY for its resident’s quality of life, health factors, clinical care, and social and economic factors. 

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The Bronx is the only borough in NYC where the majority of the residents are Hispanic. The borough consists of approximately 55.9 percent being Latino/Hispanic, 29.3 percent Black, 9.3 percent White, 3.5 percent Asian, 1.7 percent are two or more races, and .2 percent is American Indian. 

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Previous data have shown, however, that Black New Yorkers account for 22 percent of the population and 28 percent of COVID deaths. Latinos in New York City make up 34 percent of the COVID deaths and only 28 percent of the population. Whereas Whites and Asians represent 32 and 14 percent of the population and only account for 27 and 7 percent of the COVID deaths in NYC.

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Together, Black and Latinos account for 62 percent of  the COVID deaths, which is over half of the deaths from the coronavirus in New York City

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“There is a great deal of uncertainty,” says Mychal Johnson, the co-founder of South Bronx Unite, a community non-profit coalition composed of residents and organizations working together to protect the social, environmental, and economic future of the South Bronx.“People are getting sick, we heard of fatalities… we just don’t have any idea of what’s coming next in the case of testing and screening.”

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Experts say there are several reasons why the spread of the coronavirus affects lower-income communities more than their wealthier counterparts. 

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One of which can be traced back to the CDC’s initial guidelines on testing. Advancing Health Equity CEO and Founder Dr. Uche Blackstock explains how many people of color were left unchecked based on the previous CDC testing guidelines. 

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“When we first started testing the CDC was saying that we were only going to test people who have traveled to the endemic areas like Italy and China,” says Dr. Blackstock. “But in my community where I am working, you have working-class black and brown people who haven't been to China or Italy, but what we know now is that the coronavirus has been circulating in those communities for weeks, just thinking about how many people we missed based on that initial criteria.”

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Due to CDC criteria, for weeks the virus spread in Black and Brown communities unnoticed and unmonitored. 

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In an interview with WCNC, Dr. Uche Blackstock referred to the coronavirus as “the perfect storm” regarding its devastating effects in lower-income communities. 

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“Our communities were already incredibly vulnerable,” Dr. Blackstock further explains in an interview with me. “We carry a very high chronic disease burden and then add on to that the situation where we are in a pandemic, we’re ill-prepared, we are rationing resources and we are over represented in essential worker positions.”

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Chronic diseases and low access to health care dispositionally affect Black and Brown communities compared to their white counterparts. 

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Chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, are proven to cause severe complications with the coronavirus. 

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“The evidence is already demonstrating that you are at a higher risk to be affected if you have some of those conditions,” says Glenn Ellis, a medical ethicist. “Those conditions are more prevalent in the black community that puts us collectively at a higher risk. “

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Although Black and Brown Americans carry higher rates in chronic disease, Dr. Blackstock points out that these diseases have “no biological basis.” 

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“Black and brown people are not genetically predisposed to having a higher asthma, obesity, diabetes, or hypertension rate. That it is a direct result of structural racism within this country.” says Dr. Blackstock “We know that structural racism is in practices and policies, is one of the key driving forces of the social determinants of health.”

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Social determinants of health are defined by Kaiser Family Foundation as “the condition in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.”

Dr. Blackstock further defines the social determinants of health as the “availability of safe housing, access to healthy and nutritious food, access to health care, access to employment that is secure and pays a living wage.”

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