Hispanic kids more severely affected by pandemic: media

Black and Hispanic children are affected more severely by the coronavirus pandemic, with higher case rates, hospitalizations and virus-related complications, according to research released last week, reports CNN.

A report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released last Friday found that Black and Hispanic children are more likely to be hospitalized because of COVID-19 than White children.

The report found Hispanic children were hospitalized for coronavirus at the highest rate, 16.4 per 100,000 people, followed by Black children at 10.5 per 100,000. In contrast, White children were hospitalized at a rate of 2.1 per 100,000.

The CDC examined hospitalization records from 14 states and found 576 coronavirus cases among children who needed hospitalization from March through July 25.

The agency also reported higher rates of multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C, in these populations. Of 570 cases of MIS-C reported to the agency by July 29, more than 74 percent were in Black and Hispanic children.

Another study released last week by the Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC, found that coronavirus case rates are similarly higher among Black and Hispanic children and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

The study examined 1,000 patients tested at a Children's National COVID-19 testing site and found that just 7.3 percent of White children tested positive for coronavirus.

In contrast, the figures for Black and Hispanic children are 30 percent and 46.4 percent respectively. Three times as many Black children as White children reported exposure to the virus.