Risk for COVID-19 Infection and Death Among Latinos in the United States: Examining Heterogeneity in Transmission Dynamics

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically impacted the health and well-being of millions of individuals residing in the United States (U.S.) and around the world. As of June 14, 2020, over two million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection and over 114,000 individuals have died from COVID-19-related complications. Much of the discourse regarding disease burden has acknowledged the disparate COVID-19 diagnoses and deaths among differing populations, including ethnic and racial minorities. This is particularly evident in the case of Latinos who comprise approximately 18% of the U.S. population in the United States and represent the nation’s largest ethnic and racial minority group. Latinos have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19; as of June 8, 2020, they account for one in three (33%) of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States with known ethnicity/race data, whereas half (52%) of the COVID-19 cases assessed still lacked race or ethnicity data. Furthermore, Latinos have among the highest age-adjusted rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations at 117 per 100,000 and account for approximately one in five of all confirmed COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. with known ethnicity/race data. Research designed to identify the underlying drivers of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and death among the country’s vast and diverse Latino populations is urgently needed.

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