Uneven impact of COVID-19 on ethnic or racial minorities explained by differences in the prevalence of pre-existing health conditions

Abstract

COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on the health and economy with certain individuals being more vulnerable to its effect. Regardless of age, pre-existing health conditions in people, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, respiratory conditions, chronic kidney disease, cancer, human immunodeficiency disorder (HIV), tuberculosis and more, have shown to have an effect on COVID-19 infections in terms of hospitalization, disease severity, and mortality, amongst other factors. The impact of these health conditions is further differentiated in their effect on minority individuals based on race and ethnicity. Minority groups are affected to different degrees by COVID-19 infections, compared to the majority population along with having disparities in the epidemiology of pre-existing health conditions linked to COVID-19. The paper aims to look into the effect of these comorbidities on COVID-19 infections and how the incidence of these illnesses differs in minority populations resulting in differences in COVID-19 disease susceptibility, progression, and outlook.