In looking at the latest numbers of coronavirus victims, a disturbing trend has emerged over the last few weeks. The data shows a dramatic disparity in the number of coronavirus cases among minorities. Unfortunately, many cities still aren’t breaking down numbers, but The Chicago-Tribune reports for that city:

About 68% of the city’s deaths have involved African Americans, who make up only about 30% of Chicago’s total population, according to an examination of data from the Cook County medical examiner’s office and the Chicago Department of Public Health. The sobering statistics suggest black Chicagoans are dying at a rate nearly six times greater than white residents.

Similar numbers about African-Americans are being released in Louisiana, Michigan, and the Carolinas. The Los Angeles Times writes:

Shocking as these numbers are, none of this comes as a particular surprise to public health experts. African Americans are far more likely to suffer from the underlying health problems that are associated with serious and fatal COVID-19 outcomes: Black adults are nearly twice as likely as white adults to have diabetes and 40% more likely to have high blood pressure. Rates of obesity and asthma also are higher.

Because of poverty and other barriers, African Americans are less likely to have access to regular medical care. They’re more likely to live in neighborhoods where markets selling fresh, nutritious food are scarce. As a result of these factors, long before coronavirus came on the scene, black life expectancy has been several years shorter than that of the population as a whole.

Now lawmakers are raising concerns. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wrote, “It is unacceptable that African Americans are getting sick and dying from the coronavirus at such disproportionately high rates. We must solve the horrific racial disparities in health that we have in this country.”

There are similar concerns in the Hispanic community. The New York Times cites New York City as an example where “Hispanics make up 34 percent of people who have died of the virus but only 29 percent of the population.” At a news conference Wednesday NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said: “We’re going to double down on the strategies that reach people the most vulnerable now because we’re seeing these very troubling facts.” 

The Boston Globe reports on similar observations in the Boston-area:

The state’s two largest community health centers, in East Boston and Lawrence, have encountered a disproportionately large surge of coronavirus cases among Spanish-speakers.

Among COVID-19 patients at Massachusetts General Hospital there are four times more Latinos than are typically patients at the hospital. 

The Hill quotes Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, “We also know that Latino communities are especially vulnerable since they are more likely to be un- or underinsured, do not have equal access to health care services and less than 1 in 5 Latino workers can work from home.”

Watch more from CBS News above.