As COVID-19 continues to take hundreds of lives each day in the U.S., public health officials say minorities are being affected disproportionately. Early data shows that African Americans and other U.S. ethnic minorities have contracted COVID-19 at a higher rate and experience greater sickness and a higher death rate than other Americans.

On the Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast, Dr. Irene Sia, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases expert, and Dr. Mark Wieland, a Mayo Clinic community internal medicine physician, discuss ethnic disparities and COVID-19, including research being done with the Rochester Healthy Community Partnership.