- Officials said the COVID-19 pandemic worsened health inequities driven by anti-Black structural racism, which contributed to the high rates of hospitalization among Black residents.
- Officials say that the longer times between symptom onset and diagnosis contribute to delays in seeking care.
- The Health Department created a framework detailing how racial inequities manifest and affect Black and other underserved populations.
According to a report released Wednesday by the New York City Health Department, black New Yorkers were twice as likely as white residents to be hospitalised during the omicron spike as reported by Pix 11.
High rates of hospitalization
Officials said the COVID-19 pandemic worsened health inequities driven by anti-Black structural racism, which contributed to the high rates of hospitalization among Black residents.
During the omicron surge, hospitalizations were disproportionately higher in predominantly Black neighbourhoods, according to authorities.
Among the key findings of the paper was that Black residents and those who belong to the least privileged census tracts had longer delays in receiving a COVID-19 infection diagnosis, according to data from Oct. 1, 2020, to Oct. 31, 2021.
Officials say that the longer times between symptom onset and diagnosis contribute to delays in seeking care.
Racial inequalities
Authorities also attribute the inequities in the COVID-19 primary vaccination series and additional doses within the Black community to Black residents being more vulnerable during the omicron surge.
The Health Department created a framework detailing how racial inequities manifest and affect Black and other underserved populations.
Officials listed down structural factors such as racial wealth gap and intersectional discrimination, environmental factors such as segregated housing and food deserts and proximal factors such as health care segregation and anti-Blackness in health care institutions as drivers of bias against Black New Yorkers.
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Source: Pix 11
