COVID-19 is shining a light on health disparities that the Black community faces, but it isn’t the first disease to do so. In addition to higher rates of COVID-19, Black people in the Kansas City area have access to fewer permanent testing sites than the white population. The health disparities behind increased cases of COVID-19 among the Black community in Kansas City can be traced to several factors.
Health Care
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In testing for COVID-19, Black and Hispanic people in Kansas and Missouri have fewer options
In Kansas City — and similarly across the U.S. — racial and ethnic minorities face worse outcomes and greater disparities when it comes to catching, surviving and being tested for COVID-19. In both Missouri and Kansas, Black people are contracting COVID-19 at rates higher than their share of the state population. On both sides of the state line, Black people are dying at a rate over two times their population share.
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As coronavirus lurks, locked down nursing homes scramble for supplies — and connections
In the general population, most cases of COVID-19 are relatively mild. But so far, 8 out of 10 COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. have been in adults 65 years old and older.