In the present day, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may be regarded as a health problem of a global scale. Identified in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, this severe acute respiratory syndrome has spread across the globe and affected more than 180 countries (Sanyaolu et al. 2020). It infects humans at a highly alarming rate regardless of their age, ethnicity, and sex. The confirmed cases of COVID-19 have a considerably wide range of symptoms “from mild complaints, such as fever and cough, to more critical cases associated with difficulty in breathing” (Sanyaolu et al. 2020, 1070). The major symptoms of this disease include fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat, muscle aches, unexplained loss of smell and taste, headache, and diarrhea. In general, clinical manifestations of COVID-19 range from a typical cold to considerably more severe illnesses such as pneumonia, bronchitis, multi-organ failure, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, and death (Sanyaolu et al. 2020). As a matter of fact, there are still multiple limitations to knowledge related to this virus as it continues to evolve.
At the same time, there is evidence of the ability of COVID-19 to cause lasting damage to health. According to Chalmers (2020), even after being diagnosed with and recovering from the disease several months ago, coronavirus survivors currently report that they still suffer from breathlessness, fatigue, and problems. In general, the majority of coronavirus patients recover within fourteen days suffering cough, losing the sense of taste and smell, and fever for several days (Chalmers 2020). However, by some estimates, one in three coronavirus survivors, even young and relatively healthy individuals, develops particular symptoms that linger for weeks (Mervosh 2020). These symptoms traditionally include a racing heart, deep exhaustion, and piercing chest pain. People who suffer from the comorbidities of COVID-19 call themselves “long haulers” (Chalmers 2020). Despite the fact that these people are not contagious as they have already recovered, the disease’s lasting complications considerably affect their everyday life. These patients frequently struggle to complete simple tasks without a racing heart and extreme tiredness.
In the present day, despite particular attention to racial issues in the United States, the inequalities in the health care system still exist. Due to general inequities in the public health system of the United States, such as a lack of health insurance caused by low income and unemployment, limited access to health care services, and the underrepresentation of Black specialists in medical settings, morbidity and mortality rates within the Black community, including all Black citizens regardless of their place of birth or origin, are considerably high (Gilbert et al. 2016). It goes without saying that social and economic factors currently affect Black people as well, and they are more vulnerable to the infection of COVID-19 and its negative consequences. According to recent data released by public health researchers, the coronavirus is killing Black people at disproportionally high rates (Eligon et al. 2020). In addition, across the country, they generally account for more than half of those people who have positive tests (Eligon et al. 2020).
For the majority of public health experts, the reasons behind high and disproportionate mortality rates from COVID-19 among the Black population are easily explicable (Eligon et al. 2020). Black citizens frequently do not have an opportunity to work from home as they hold “a disproportionate share of retail, municipal, first responder and other jobs that interact directly with the public and have been deemed essential throughout the pandemic” (Higgins-Dunn et al. 2020). In addition, Black health care providers are overrepresented in hospitals (Green & Moore, 2020). That is why they are exposed to a greater risk of coronavirus infection in comparison with White employees who work remotely in the spheres of economics, finance, and information technologies.
As previously mentioned, a substantial number of patients have additional symptoms of COVID-19 that may linger for several months after recovery. Taking into consideration the fact that the virus disproportionately affects Black communities in the United States, it is possible to conclude that the majority of “long haulers” will be Black people who will suffer from the long-term effects of the coronavirus at disproportional rates as well. In addition, the access Black people have to medical services is frequently limited due to their financial state and a lack of nurses and doctors in the Black community (Wingfield 2020). That is why, without appropriate and time-sensitive treatment, they are exposed to a greater risk of diabetes, hypertension, and chronic respiratory illnesses in comparison with the White population. According to recent researches, these comorbidities “increase the chances of infection” (Sanyaolu et al. 2020, 1071). Consequently, Black people suffer from both severe symptoms of COVID-19 and illnesses that may develop on the background of the virus.
In general, COVID-19 and its long-lasting negative health conditions disproportionally affect Black patients and their jobs as their reports concerning their general state are not well-regarded. According to Green and Moore (2020), 39% of positions held by black workers are at considerable risk, opposite to 34% for white employees. Moreover, Black coronavirus survivors have admitted that they have not been paid for several months despite their inability to work that should presuppose their need in paid leave (Mervosh 2020). Physicians and employees frequently regard patients’ chronic pain conditions and inability to breath as ordinary anxiety or stress (Mervosh 2020). At the same time, if the changes of policy in order to reduce racial disparities in the public health system are not initiated on the federal level, Black citizens will be more vulnerable to severe illnesses from the coronavirus in comparison with white citizens.
References
Chalmers, Vanessa. 2020. “How Covid-19 causes lasting damage: Three survivors in their 20s reveal they STILL suffer fatigue, racing hearts and breathlessness MONTHS after they were first sick.” Mail Online, Web.
Eligon, John, Audra D. S. Burch, Dionne Searcey, and Richard A. Oppel Jr. 2020. “Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some States.” The New York Times, Web.
Gilbert, Keon L., Rashawn Ray, Arjumand Siddiqi, Shivan Shetty, Elizabeth A. Baker, Keith Elder, and Derek M. Griffith. 2016. “Visible and Invisible Trends in Black Men’s Health: Pitfalls and Promises for Addressing Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Inequities in Health.” Annual Review of Public Health 37: 295–311.
Green, Jeff, and Donald Moore. 2020. “Covid-19 Is Hurting Black Americans More in Almost Every Way.” Bloomberg, Web.
Higgins-Dunn, Noah, Will Feuer, Berkeley Lovelace Jr., and Jasmine Kim. 2020. “Coronavirus Pandemic and George Floyd Protests Highlight Health Disparities for Black People.” CNBC, Web.
Mervosh, Sarah. 2020. “‘It’s Not in My Head’: They Survived the Coronavirus, but They Never Got Well.” The New York Times, Web.
Sanyaolu Adekunle, Chuku Okorie, Aleksandra Marinkovic, Risha Patidar, Kokab Younis, Priyank Desai, Zaheeda Hosein, Inderbir Padda et al. 2020. “Comorbidity and its Impact on Patients with COVID-19.” SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine 2: 1069–1076.
Wingfield, Adia Harvey. 2020. “The Disproportionate Impact of Covid-19 on Black Health Care Workers in the U.S.” Harvard Business Review. Web.