Asians have the lowest death rate from coronavirus disease, according to early data of racial breakdown of COVID-19 deaths reported in New York City

According to early data of racial breakdown of COVID-19 deaths released by NYC Health Department, Asians have the lowest death rate from coronavirus disease. The early data shows that of those who have died from coronavirus in the New York City, only 7.2 percent were Asian. However, the data does not look good for Blacks and Latinos. We have to be careful about not generalizing the finding. The data only represents the racial breakdown of COVID-19 deaths in New York City.

Latino and black residents in New York City have higher mortality rates from coronavirus, according to preliminary numbers released by the city on Wednesday morning. Hispanic and Latino New Yorkers have the highest COVID-19 death rate: 22.8 out of 100,000 people. Black/African American New Yorkers have the second highest reported death rate, 19.8 out of 100,000. White New Yorkers have COVID-19 death rate of 10.2 per 100,000, while Asians’ rate is 8.4 percent.

The preliminary data (data from NYC as of April 6, 2020) released by the city on Wednesday morning shows only 63 percent of reported deaths in New York City because according to the city, the vast majority of cases are reported by labs and often did not have race or ethnicity data.

“The vast majority of cases are reported by labs, and race/ethnicity information is often missing because it is not
received on the test requisitions from providers. Data about persons who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or other races are not available. Hispanic/Latino includes people of any race,”  NYC Health said.

Below is a link to the data.

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-19-deaths-race-ethnicity-04082020-1.pdf