May 1, 2020
People of color across the country — and in Multnomah County — shoulder a disproportionate burden of illness and death(link is external) from COVID-19.

Researchers at John Hopkins reports(link is external), for example, found Black and African American residents represent only about 13 percent of the population in states reporting data on race and ethnicity of COVID-19 cases. But Black residents account for about a third of COVID-19 deaths in those states.


Those inequities extend to Oregon, where people of color are overrepresented in cases and more likely to experience complications from the virus.

The most obvious disparity is this: Latinx people make up 13 percent of the state population and 27 percent of cases. That disparity is driven by an outbreak in Washington County, where nearly half of those who have tested positive(link is external) for the virus identify as Latinx — more than double the rate of Hispanic residents in Washington County.