A majority of Americans appear to recognize that the coronavirus outbreak impacts some groups more than others. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a notice stating that “the current data suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups”.
The latest CBS News/YouGov Poll shows that most Americans say minority groups are a lot more at risk. Three in five Americans (60%) say the coronavirus will ultimately impact the health of predominantly Black communities a lot. A similar number of Americans (57%) think the virus will have a lot of impact on the health of predominantly Hispanic communities.
About half that number (32%) believe COVID-19 will impact the health of America’s white communities a lot.
Even among white Americans, three in five (60%) believe the health of Black communities will be impacted a lot by COVID-19. More than two-thirds (68%) percent of Black Americans believe the same about black communities. Just one-third (32%) of white Americans believe primarily caucasian communities will be impacted a lot.
The only group that Americans believe will be more severely impacted by COVID-19 than minority groups is older people. Nearly four in five (79%) recognize the health impact that the coronavirus will have on elderly Americans. The CDC says that older adults are at higher risk than most Americans for developing serious complications from COVID-19 illness.
About one in five Americans believe that COVID-19 will have a significant health impact on younger people (20%), children (20%), or wealthy people (17%).
See the toplines and crosstabs from this CBS News/YouGov Poll
Related: Most Americans support 2020 political conventions moving online amid COVID-19
Methodology: This CBS News survey was conducted by YouGov using a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. residents interviewed between May 11-13, 2020. This sample was weighted according to gender, age, race and education based on the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, as well as 2016 presidential vote and registration status. The margin of error is +/- 2.7 points.
Image: Getty
