The racial disparity data for Pinellas County paints a bleak picture: Blacks are 3.85 times (2.37 times in Hillsborough County), more likely to be COVID-19 positive than whites.
American Indian, Asian, Alaska Native, Hawaiian Islanders, collectively referred to as “Other” in state data, are 1.44 times more likely to be COVID-19 positive than whites in Pinellas (7 times more likely in Hillsborough County).
That story bears out in the Florida data, with blacks dying at 1.42 times the rate of whites.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, people who are black suffered a disproportionate impact of health conditions related to structural inequities such as racial residential segregation, which inherently limits access to quality schools.
In late March, even before most states were tracking race-related data about COVID-19, the Mayor of Shreveport created a digital map that anticipated the impact that the pandemic would have in the neighborhoods that are predominately black.
