Black Americans who have already suffered disproportionately from the coronavirus tend to have a more intense interest toward the news about the epidemic compared to whites and other races, according to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center.

Many Americans have been closely following news about the outbreak very closely, the survey shows. But black adults were much more likely than whites and somewhat more likely than Hispanic adults to frequently discuss the COVID-19 outbreak with other people.

The survey, conducted by the Washington-based think tank, started in late April when COVID-19 was dominating the news, and before nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died from police brutality, began.

What does the data tell us?

Data suggests 26 percent of blacks discussed the virus "almost all the time" with others, more than twice of whites. 

At the national level, 55 percent of black adults said they were very closely following news about the health impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on people like them, substantially more than the 36 percent of white adults and the 43 percent of Hispanic adults who do so. 

In terms of their discussion topics, 49 percent blacks were very keen to know the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States, higher than the 34 percent of white adults. 

Similarly, 47 percent of black Americans also paid closer attention to news about the ability of hospitals across the country to treat patients, compared to 31 percent of whites. 

In addition to hospital capability, the availability of COVID-19 test is also the focusing point of black Americans. About half (48 percent) of black adults were very closely following local news about the availability of COVID-19 tests, nearly twice the share of white adults (25 percent).

Possible risk factors

According to the official data, 23 percent of the Americans who have died from COVID-19 deaths were black, though blacks make up only about 13 percent of the U.S. population. About 53 percent of COVID-19 fatalities were white, though whites make up about 60 percent of the U.S. population.

People with complications including hypertension and diabetes, obesity, and the higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, as well as other pre-existing conditions appear to be much easier to develop serious illness more than others, the World Health Organization warned.

That makes the virus particularly dangerous for African Americans, who because of environmental and economic factors have higher rates of those illnesses, Dr. Summer Johnson McGee, dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of New Haven told Reuters.

Additionally, decades of spatial segregation, inequitable access to testing and treatment, and withholding racial data from reports on virus outcome are also factors which should not be underestimated, a study analyzing the link between COVID-19 and African Americans points out.

Research shows that the living conditions where many black Americans live are poor, and are coupled with high housing density, high crime rates, and poor access to healthy foods.

African Americans are overrepresented in front-line jobs like the postal service or home health aid industry, leading to higher rates of exposure, said Camara Phyllis Jones, MD, PhD, former president of the American Public Health Association in an interview with MedPage Today.

"There is nothing different biologically about race. It is the conditions of our lives," she added. "We have to acknowledge that now and always."

(Cover: Several people play spades in New Orleans, U.S. amid the outbreak of the COVID-19. /Reuters)