Nearly 160,000 Blacks are among the 1.1 million people in America who have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began in 2020, according to a Crusader analysis of data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The data shows America’s Hispanic residents had more deaths than Blacks and other minority groups during the pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic decimated Black communities throughout the U.S., especially in New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic where in 2020, there were more Blacks dying of the disease than the city’s white residents.
The Crusader also found that out of the 50 states, 18 had death tolls of at least 4,000 Black residents.
The pandemic exposed health inequities among America’s ethnic groups, particularly among Black, Hispanic and white residents in most states. Blacks and Hispanics had some of the lowest vaccination rates in some of America’s major cities.
Despite the availability of the vaccine, the data also show that 2021 was the deadliest year not only for Blacks, but for whites, Hispanics and Asians. The data also show thousands are still dying of the disease as of 2023.
The Crusader analyzed CDC data that includes COVID-19 casualties from 2020 to 2023. The data show that among 1,114,697 COVID-19 deaths, 157,193 were Black, 162,226 were Hispanic, 759,307 were white and 35,971 were Asian.
The figures show that Blacks disproportionally died from the disease with 14 percent of all deaths, despite the group making up over 13 percent of America’s population at the beginning of the pandemic.
The pandemic struck most American cities and towns in March, 2020.
According to the CDC, that year, 62,430 Black residents died of COVID-19. In 2021, when America endured 12 full months of the pandemic, 64,533 Black Americans died of the disease, despite the availability of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. In 2022, some 30,165 Blacks died of COVID-19 and 5,216 died in 2023.
The Crusader also looked at Black COVID-19 deaths in New York State and New York City. The CDC reports data on both entities separately.
But together, a total of 14,786 Black residents died of COVID-19 in New York City and New York State. In New York City alone, 10,082 Black residents died from the disease over a four-year period.
In 2020 alone in New York City, 6,311 Blacks died of COVID-19, compared to, 6,043 white residents, according to the CDC data. Still, Hispanics that year had the highest casualties with 6,825 dying of the disease. COVID-19 claimed 2,217 Asian lives.
Overall, 36,901 residents in New York City died of COVID-19, including 10,082
Black residents, 44,174 whites, 15,377 Hispanics and 5,353 Asians.
A total of 14,786 Black residents in New York State lost their lives during the pandemic.
With massive casualties in New York City, New York State had the highest number of COVID-19 deaths than any other state, according to CDC data. Approximately 78,846 residents in the Empire State died of COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023.
Florida had the second highest with 13,022 Black COVID-19 deaths. Georgia was third with 11,558 Black COVID-19 deaths, followed by Texas, where 11,172 died from the disease. In North Carolina, 7,604 Blacks died during the pandemic while 7,490 Blacks in California died from the disease. Michigan had 6,739 Black COVID-19 deaths, and 6,532 Black residents in Illinois died from the disease.
Other U.S. states where there were more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths among Black residents were Maryland, Louisiana, Ohio, South Carolina, New Jersey, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Virginia and Tennessee.
Six states, including Hawaii, Maine, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and Vermont, did not provide COVID-19 death statistics by race.
