One reason why people of color are dying at higher rates in the US? The air they breathe

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/17/us-coronavirus-people-of-color-pollution#maincontent

Mustafa Santiago Ali
Fri 17 Apr 2020 10.14 EDT

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One of the reasons that black and brown communities are getting infected and dying at higher rates from Covid-19 is the air they breathe. A recent Harvard TH Chan school of public health study confirmed that “people with Covid-19 who live in US regions with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from the disease than people who live in less polluted areas”.

Even as Covid-19 deaths in communities of color continue to dramatically rise, however, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended enforcement of anti-pollution regulations. This staggeringly regressive decision means that toxic pollutants which contribute to cancer, heart, kidney and lung diseases will be pumped into already overburdened and medically underserved communities. These and other chronic medical conditions make vulnerable people more susceptible to Covid-19.

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