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Racial and ethnic disparities resurface with omicron surge

In this Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 photo, a man rolls up his sleeve and prepares to receive the COVID-19 vaccine inside the hospital belonging to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, in Cherokee, N.C. (AP Photo/Sarah Blake Morgan)

State officials say the surge of the omicron COVID-19 variant has led to the re-emergence of racial and ethnic disparities. 

Data from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services shows that the rate of COVID-19 infections is once again disproportionally impacting Black and Hispanic residents.  

According to a news release, since December 26, the rate of infections was twice as high among the Black population as compared to white residents. A department analysis also shows the infection rate as much as 57 percent higher among Hispanics than non-Hispanics.

Case rates in the Black community were actually lower than whites in early December, but those numbers rose with the arrival of the omicron variant.

Along with the rise in infections, disparities are now also showing up in hospitalizations, with the highest rates currently among Blacks, followed closely by American Indians, at nearly double the rate of whites.

NCDHHS officials say that achieving equity remains a priority within the department. To that end, the state is delivering N95 masks to local health departments, community organizations, child care programs, and long-term care facilities.

And NCDHHS is pointing to programs in place connecting historically marginalized populations to vaccination and testing events, health care,  and support services for those in quarantine or isolation.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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