NYC Coronavirus Ethnicity Data Shows 'Clear Inequalities:' Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — New city data show Hispanic and Black New Yorkers are more likely to die from the new coronavirus and that the disease has claimed the life of a child less than 10 years old.

Hispanic New Yorkers make up 34 percent of the people to lose their lives to COVID-19, despite representing 29 percent of the population, and Black New Yorkers make up 28 percent of the fatalities despite representing 22 percent of the population, data show.

"There are clear inequalities, clear disparities in how this disease is impacting New York City," de Blasio said Wednesday. "We're seeing folks who have struggled before really being hit hard."

The Mayor's Office released Wednesday new COVID-19 data — which show the fatalities by age bracket and ethnicity — after repeated criticism from Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

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"The data we see today confirms and reinforces what we've seen over years and decades of systemic inequities," Williams said Wednesday.

"These ingrained injustices have always been there, often ignored by many in power, but these numbers show the harsh truth - the bias has a body count."

At a press conference Wednesday, the Mayor and Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot placed blame on anti-immigrant rhetoric and a national healthcare system that made it difficult for low-income and undocumented Americans to access medical care.

"I am very concerned when I see the large number of Latinos who have died of this," Barbot said. "The overall concerning aspect of this is the fact that these are communities that have had high rates of chronic, underlying illnesses."

The Mayor's office has been loathe to release specific data on COVID-19's spread and has done so incrementally, first releasing a baffling map based on percentages and zones then neighborhood case data.

De Blasio defended his office's delay in releasing data on ethnicity by arguing there was not before enough information to show a reliable trend.

"You have to make sure there's enough evidence," de Blasio said. "If we tell people something we'd better damn well be right about it."

De Blasio pledged to increase grass root efforts in hard-hit neighborhoods and expand 311 capacity to allow more New Yorkers to reach city assistance.

The mayor argued this was only possible now — and not something his office could have done weeks ago — because of pressure to protect hospitals from a surge of COVID-19 cases.

"The kinds of outreach we used to do couldn't be done ... everyone was needed in the hospitals," de Blasio said. "Only now are we able to go after the deep problems."

The city's data also show a child less than 10 years old and four teenagers have died from COVID-19.

The preliminary data, which represents information released on April 6, was released as de Blasio cautiously celebrated slowing rates of spread in the five boroughs.

"People really listened and they really did what was needed even though it was really tough," de Blasio said. "The real heroes here are everyday New Yorkers."

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