Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University, Houston, USA.
Department of Economics, Rice University, Houston, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jan 19;12(1):1002. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-04507-x.
The costs of COVID-19 are extensive, and, like the fallout of most health and environmental crises in the US, there is growing evidence that these costs weigh disproportionately on communities of color. We investigated whether county-level racial composition and fine particulate pollution (PM) are indicators for COVID-19 incidence and death rates in the state of Texas. Using county-level data, we ran linear regressions of percent minority as well as historic 2000-2016 PM levels against COVID-19 cases and deaths per capita. We found that a county's percent minority racial composition, defined as the percentage of population that identifies as Black or Hispanic, highly correlates with COVID-19 case and death rates. Using Value-of-Statistical-Life calculations, we found that economic costs from COVID-19 deaths fall more heavily on Black and Hispanic residents in Harris County, the most populous county in Texas. We found no consistent evidence or significant correlations between historic county-average PM concentration and COVID-19 incidence or death. Our findings suggest that public health and economic aid policy should consider the racially-segregated burden of disease to better mitigate costs and support equity for the duration and aftermath of health crises.
COVID-19 的成本是广泛的，而且，就像美国大多数卫生和环境危机的后果一样，越来越多的证据表明，这些成本不成比例地落在有色人种社区身上。我们调查了县级种族构成和细颗粒物污染（PM）是否是德克萨斯州 COVID-19 发病率和死亡率的指标。使用县级数据，我们对少数民族比例以及历史上 2000-2016 年 PM 水平与 COVID-19 人均病例和死亡人数进行了线性回归。我们发现，一个县的少数民族种族构成比例，定义为自认为是黑人或西班牙裔的人口百分比，与 COVID-19 的病例和死亡率高度相关。使用生命价值计算方法，我们发现，哈里斯县（德克萨斯州人口最多的县）的 COVID-19 死亡经济成本对黑人和西班牙裔居民的影响更大。我们没有发现历史上县级平均 PM 浓度与 COVID-19 发病率或死亡率之间存在一致的证据或显著相关性。我们的研究结果表明，公共卫生和经济援助政策应考虑到疾病的种族隔离负担，以便在卫生危机期间和之后更好地减轻成本并支持公平。
