Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Six months into the pandemic, data paints a stark picture of how Black and Hispanic Ohioans face an outsized risk from COVID-19 (Source: “Black, Hispanic Ohioans Face Outsized COVID-19 Risk,” Dayton Daily News, September 6).
According to a new Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) data brief, Ohio COVID-19 Disparities by Race and Ethnicity: September Update, Black Ohioans make up about 13% of the state’s population but account for larger percentages of COVID-19 cases (22.8%), hospitalizations (30.6%) and deaths (18.7%), while white Ohioans make up about 82% of the state’s population, but account for smaller percentages of COVID-19 cases (53.1%), hospitalizations (56.9%) and deaths (77.5%), as of August 29.
In conjunction with the release of the publication, which is a follow-up to one released by HPIO in May, the Institute also has released county-level data tables that show COVID-19 case information compared to racial and ethnic populations.
A major limitation for fully assessing the impact of racial and ethnic disparities across the state is the high percentage of coronavirus cases with unknown race and ethnicity data. In Ohio, on average, 13% of cases in each county are listed as “unknown” for race. Without complete counts of race and ethnicity for those who test positive for COVID-19, it is difficult to measure the full impact of racial and ethnic disparities.