CDC: Hispanic, Latino Children Are More Likely to Have COVID-19

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Aug 07, 2020 10:37 PM EDT

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A boy receives a free COVID-19 test at a St. John’s Well Child & Family Center mobile clinic set up outside Walker Temple AME Church in South Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic on July 15, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

Hispanic children have a higher hospitalization rate for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) than white kids, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a report released Friday.

The CDC looked at racial disparities in children with COVID-19 across the United States. It noted that Hispanic children were eight times more likely to be hospitalized than white kids.

To be more specific, Hispanic or Latino children are getting hospitalized for COVID-19 at a rate of 16.4 per 100,000. Non-Hispanic white children get hospitalized at a rate of 2.1 per 100,000. The report gathered data on COVID-19 among children and their race from March 1 to July 25.

Of the 526 children, who reported their race and ethnicity, 241 or 45.8 percent of them were Hispanic. That means nearly half of the infected young population was from the Hispanic community. Hispanic children also made for almost half of the children with underlying conditions.

The COVID-19 has shown how much of a different race can do when it comes to the U.S. healthcare system. More Hispanic, Native American and Black populations are getting hospitalized and killed by it at a rate far higher than other groups, the Assoc iated Press reported.

While most coronavirus cases and deaths come from the adult population, the growing number of Hispanic or Latino children is still concerning. Children make up about 265,000 of the nearly five million cases reported in the country. Of the 156,000 deaths, 77 were children.

Carrie Henning-Smith, a researcher on health disparities, said the CDC reports are reminders that children are getting seriously ill and dying.

"It's clear from these studies, and from other emerging research, that kids are not immune," she said.

It is even more concerning that schools are set to reopen soon, which could lead to even more COVID-19 cases in children. Henning-Smith warned community leaders to be careful and put children in schools right now could also mean putting them in "unsafe situations."

What causes the disparities?

The CDC said it has yet to fully understand why there is such a significant disparity between races, but noted that other studies had supported their results.

They said that it might be because Latino adults work more on the frontlines, which leads to them unknowingly bringing the virus home to their children.

In an NBC News article, Tacia Brently, who is the mother of a boy who contracted coronavirus, told parents to remain alert for unusual symptoms in their children.

"The very second you see something that isn't normal, just go. Go straight to the hospital," she said.

Latinos and COVID-19

Overall, Latinos do not see good numbers in terms of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U.S. Twenty out of 27 states show an unfair share of deaths in June and early July.

Whether cases in the state overall have been going down or up, Latinos still make up four times the amount of hospitalizations compared to others.

According to The Hill, the big difference between COVID-19 cases, based on race, is most evident in states with a high percentage of Hispanic or Latino residents, like Florida, California, and Arizona.

In California, for example, Latinos account for 39 percent of the state population, but they make up nearly half of the overall virus deaths at 46 percent.