Persistent iniquities: black people and the covid-19 pandemic in the state of Pará

Abstract

The objective of this article is to investigate how the covid-19 pandemic affected the population of the state of Pará, considering the race/color category as a social marker to measure mortality and infection rates. Methodologically, this is a descriptive, exploratory, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. The results of the data analysis show that, from February 2020 to December 2022, 860 928 confirmed cases of covid-19 were registered. Blacks represent 61%, while whites correspond to 8.16%.

There are also high percentages of non-completion of the race/color variable. Contamination by gender reveals that women were more affected than men and that black women had higher notification rates. As for mortality and infection rates, black people have higher rates compared to white people. It is concluded that the covid-19 pandemic has shown how much black people, especially women, have their existence diminished and denied.

Keywords: Racism. Health of the black population. covid-19.