ABSTRACT

Objective

To investigate how racial/ethnic density and residential segregation shape the uneven burden of COVID-19 in US counties and whether (if yes, how) residential segregation moderates the association between racial/ethnic density and infections.

Design

We first merge various risk factors from federal agencies (e.g. Census Bureau and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) with COVID-19 cases as of June 13th in contiguous US counties (N = 3,042). We then apply negative binomial regression to the county-level dataset to test three interrelated research hypotheses and the moderating role of residential segregation is presented with a figure.

Results

Several key results are obtained. (1) Counties with high racial/ethnic density of minority groups experience more confirmed cases than those with low levels of density. (2) High levels of residential segregation between whites and non-whites increase the number of COVID-19 infections in a county, net of other risk factors. (3) The relationship between racial/ethnic density and COVID-19 infections is enhanced with the increase in residential segregation between whites and non-whites in a county.

Conclusions

The pre-existing social structure like residential segregation may facilitate the spread of COVID-19 and aggravate racial/ethnic health disparities in infections. Minorities are disproportionately affected by the novel coronavirus and focusing on pre-existing social structures and discrimination in housing market may narrow the uneven burden across racial/ethnic groups.

中文翻译：

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美国各县的COVID-19病例：种族/族裔密度和居住区隔离的作用

摘要

目的

调查种族/族裔密度和居住隔离如何影响美国各县COVID-19的不均衡负担，以及居住区隔离是否（如果有，如何）缓解种族/族裔密度与感染之间的联系。

设计

我们首先将联邦机构（例如人口普查局和疾病控制与预防中心）的各种风险因素与6月13日美国连续性县（N  = 3,042）中的COVID-19病例合并。然后，我们将负二项式回归应用于县级数据集，以检验三个相互关联的研究假设，并用数字表示居民隔离的调节作用。

结果

获得了几个关键结果。（1）少数民族的种族/族裔密度高的县比密度低的县的确诊病例更多。（2）白人与非白人之间较高的居住区隔离程度，增加了县的COVID-19感染人数，其中不包括其他风险因素。（3）种族/族裔密度与COVID-19感染之间的关系随着县中白人与非白人之间居住隔离的增加而增强。

结论

先前存在的社会结构（如居住区隔离）可能会促进COVID-19的传播，并加剧感染中的种族/族裔健康差异。少数族裔受到新型冠状病毒的侵害程度特别大，并且将重点放在既有的社会结构上，住房市场的歧视可能会缩小种族/族裔群体之间不平衡的负担。