California releases limited racial breakdown of coronavirus patients and deaths

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday presented a partial breakdown of coronavirus deaths by race.

The governor emphasized the breakdown was based on limited data, which has been an issue across the state because many reports of new cases and deaths don’t include racial identifiers.

With about 37% of patients identified by race, here is a breakdown of infections statewide:

Latino 30%
Asian 14%
Black 6%

Here is a breakdown of deaths on which the state had racial data:

Latino 29%
Asian 16%
Black 3%

The data Newsom released did not include percentages for whites. The governor said the preliminary figures track “modestly so, along the lines of the total population” and that his office is not seeing the disparities that some other states and counties have seen.