The leading U.S. expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Thursday expressed concerns about the racial disparities that have opened up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a live chat with Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Fauci noted the higher infection and death rates of COVID-19 among minority communities, calling it a "very disturbing phenomenon."

The expert told Zuckerberg that African Americans, Latinx, Native Americans and Alaskan Americans tend to have jobs that don't allow them to work remotely, putting them at greater risk of getting infected.

"Once they do get infected, as a group, if you look at the underlying conditions that lead to a higher likelihood of a bad outcome, those demographic minority groups have a much higher incidence of that," Fauci said.

The expert suggests sending resources to particularly hard-hit areas.

"What you do is you put resources where you have a demographic concentration of individuals, so they can get tested easily, contact traced easily, have access to care – get under the care of a health care provider – quickly to try and mitigate the advancement of disease," he said.

During the live chat, Fauci implored younger people to continue social distancing and other measures to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has surged in some parts of the country.

"Please assume the societal responsibility of being part of the solution, not part of the problem," he said, adding that the median age of those infected in the U.S. has fallen by about 15 years as younger people, many of whom may show few symptoms of illness, are being infected.

He cautioned that even asymptomatic people can spread the coronavirus to others, increasing the likelihood that the virus could infect a more vulnerable person.

Fauci said some states have moved forward with reopening even though they did not meet guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In other states "the citizenry ... put caution to the wind," he said, citing photos showing people congregating at bars without face coverings.

The expert urged people to wear face coverings, avoid crowds, maintain social distance and remember that being outdoors is always better than being indoors.

(With input from Reuters; cover image via CFP)