LAUSR

As we are all aware, the 21st century is an era of information, especially digital information. As such, we constantly live with information explosion, maybe even overload. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic unfolded in the United States, there was a plethora of information intended to heighten awareness in the general population about the domestic epidemic. As with any unfolding situation, from a weather event, natural disaster, or act of terrorism to an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, it is essential for the tenets of risk communication to be followed. “Risk communication is an interactive process used in talking or writing about topics that cause concern about health, safety, security, or the environment” (Persensky et al., 2001, p. 1). Risk communication is an essential interaction between risk analysis, risk management, and the public (Campbell&Babrow, 2004). Aswe have seen throughout the domestic COVID-19 epidemic,messages from different leaders of government have contradicted COVID-19 taskforce leaders, have minimized the risk and overlooked the populations being affected disproportionately, have been culturally misguided, and have sparked confusion. Early in the emerging domestic epidemic, the U.S. government warned that older persons, persons with high blood pressure and obesity, and persons with other chronic diseases were at higher risk for severe illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 15 April 2020). This early messaging was a form of risk communication intended to clarify who was most at risk for severe illness and death. In themajor U.S. cities experiencing significant and early surges associated with COVID-19, wewitnessed significant inequities in severe illness and death. Although states reported Black and African Americans comprised 13% of the COVID-19-related cases by race and ethnicity, Black and African Americans experienced approximately 35% of the deaths. In New York, Black, African American, and Latinx populations have died at twice the rate of the White population (Elving, 2020). In Chicago, Black and African American individuals have comprised more than 70% of the COVID-19related deaths (Elving, 2020; Webb Hooper et al., 2020), despite comprising approximately 30% of the city’s population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). In addition, the Navajo reservation—encompassing parts of Arizona, NewMexico, and Utah—is considered the Nation’s third hot spot of the domestic COVID-19 epidemic behind New York and New Jersey (Mineo, 2020). On April 4, 2020, the CDC identified the risk factors for COVID-19 to include “age, race/ethnicity, gender, some medical conditions, use of certain medications, poverty and crowding, certain occupations, and pregnancy” (CDC, 23 April 2020). Curiously, the CDC lists “race/ethnicity” as a risk factor. Is there a biologic factor increasing or decreasing the risk of COVID-19 for some racial and ethnic groups? Maybe in time, scientists will discover a genotypic variation that places one racial or ethnic group at higher risk or lower risk, but we do not know that today. According to the World Health Organization, the social determinants of health (SDOH) are “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age” (WHO, 2011). The SDOH are influential factors linked to health outcomes and help provide insights on observed health inequities. Sponsorships or competing interests thatmay be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article.