This story is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. Link to FULL story: njspotlight.com/2021/02/covid-19-death-rates-minorities-communities-of-color-black-hispanic-asian/

New state health data provides more proof of the devastating and disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on New Jersey’s minority communities: The disease was the No. 1 cause of death for Blacks, Hispanics and Asians last year.

Preliminary New Jersey State Health Assessment Data for deaths in 2020 made available on Monday shows COVID-19 surpassed heart disease for Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. It was the third-largest cause of death among non-Hispanic whites, with heart disease remaining the dominant one, followed by cancer, for that racial group. State officials continue to update death data, which is derived from the causes listed on death certificates of New Jersey residents regardless of where they died, for a year or longer so some of the numbers could change.

It is particularly striking that the disease caused by the novel coronavirus jumped into the top spot given that the first COVID-19 death was not confirmed until almost a quarter of the way through 2020—on March 10, 2020.

But doctors and health officials said the data is not surprising.