Latino Mortality Rate Spiked 48% in Los Angeles During Covid
A doctor checks on a Covid-19 patient at a hospital in Tarzana, California, on Sept. 2, 2021.
Photographer: Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images
The death rate of Latinos in Los Angeles rose dramatically more than any other ethnic group during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Between 2019 and 2021, the percentage rate of deaths for any reason for Latinos spiked 48%, data from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health show. Just under half of the city’s population is of Hispanic or Latino descent, according to Census data. While all ethnic groups suffered more than usual deaths during the first year of the pandemic, only the Latino population saw the trend continue the following year. The overall two year mortality-rate for Black people increased 23% and 22% for Asian people, consistent with the broader county statistics.