Structural racism drives higher COVID-19 death rates in Louisiana, study finds

Higher COVID-19 mortality rates among Black communities in Louisiana can be linked to pervasive health vulnerabilities associated with racism, including the location of many Black neighborhoods near industrial facilities and the higher likelihood among Black families of being uninsured, researchers found. The team identified the spatial distribution of social and environmental stressors across Louisiana parishes, and tracked the correlations among stressors, cumulative health risks, COVID-19 mortality rates, and the size of Black populations across the parishes.