Visualizing COVID-19 Mortality Rates and African-American Populations in the USA and Pennsylvania

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified African-Americans as having increased risk of COVID-19-associated mortality. Access to healthcare and related social determinants of health are at the core of this disparity. To explore the geographical links between race and COVID-19 mortality, we created descriptive maps of COVID-19 mortality rates in relation to the percentage of populations self-identifying as African-American across the USA, by state, and Pennsylvania (PA), by county. In addition, we used bivariate and logistic regression analyses to quantify the statistical relationship between these variables, and control for area-level demographic, healthcare access, and comorbidity risk factors. We found that COVID-19 mortality rates were generally higher in areas that had higher African-American populations, particularly in the northeast USA and eastern PA. These relationships were quantified through Pearson correlations showing significant positive associations at the state and county level. At the US state-level, percent African-American population was the only significant correlate of COVID-19 mortality rate. In PA at the county-level, higher percent African-American population was associated with higher COVID-19 mortality rate even after controlling for area-level confounders. More resources should be allocated to address high COVID-19 mortality rates among African-American populations.