The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported to disproportionately impact racial/ethnic minorities in the USA, both in terms of infections and deaths. This racial disparity in the COVID-19 outcomes may result from the segregation of minorities in neighborhoods with health-compromising conditions. We, thus, anticipate that neighborhoods would be especially vulnerable to COVID-19 if they are of present-day economic and racial disadvantage and were redlined historically. To test this expectation, we examined the change of both confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths from April to July, 2020, in zip code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) in the New York City using multilevel regression analysis. The results indicate that ZCTAs with a higher proportion of black and Hispanic populations are associated with a higher percentage of COVID-19 infection. Historically low-graded neighborhoods show a higher risk for COVID-19 infection, even for ZCTAs with present-day economic and racial privilege. These associations change over time as the pandemic unfolds. Racial/ethnic minorities are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic’s health impact. The current evidence shows that the pre-existing social structure in the form of racial residential segregation could be partially responsible for the disparities observed, highlighting an urgent need to stress historical segregation and to build a less segregated and more equal society.

据报道，2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 在感染和死亡方面对美国的种族/少数民族造成了不成比例的影响。COVID-19 结果中的这种种族差异可能是由于少数族裔在健康状况不佳的社区中的隔离造成的。因此，我们预计，如果社区在当今经济和种族方面处于劣势并且在历史上被划红线，那么这些社区将特别容易受到 COVID-19 的影响。为了检验这一预期，我们使用多级回归分析检查了 2020 年 4 月至 7 月纽约市邮政编码制表区 (ZCTAs) 中确诊的 COVID-19 病例和死亡病例的变化。结果表明，黑人和西班牙裔人口比例较高的 ZCTA 与较高比例的 COVID-19 感染相关。历史上等级较低的社区感染 COVID-19 的风险更高，即使对于拥有当今经济和种族特权的 ZCTA 也是如此。随着大流行的蔓延，这些关联会随着时间而变化。种族/少数民族在 COVID-19 大流行的健康影响中首当其冲。目前的证据表明，以种族居住隔离形式存在的社会结构可能是造成所观察到的差异的部分原因，突出了强调历史隔离和建立一个更少隔离和更平等的社会的迫切需要。种族/少数民族在 COVID-19 大流行的健康影响中首当其冲。目前的证据表明，以种族居住隔离形式存在的社会结构可能是造成所观察到的差异的部分原因，突出了强调历史隔离和建立一个更少隔离和更平等的社会的迫切需要。种族/少数民族在 COVID-19 大流行的健康影响中首当其冲。目前的证据表明，以种族居住隔离形式存在的社会结构可能是造成所观察到的差异的部分原因，突出了强调历史隔离和建立一个更少隔离和更平等的社会的迫切需要。