https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200504171856.htm > The perspective essay, "At the Heart of the Matter: Unmasking and Addressing COVID-19's Toll on Diverse Populations," notes higher rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths or positive cases among blacks, Hispanic/LatinX and Native Americans are being reported at local and national levels. The essay discusses the alarming nature of the problem and is a follow-up to a webinar by the Association of Black Cardiologists entitled, "At the Heart of the Matter: Unmasking the Invisibility of COVID-19 in Diverse Populations." > According to the article's authors, the health disparities exposed by the current public health crisis did not materialize in a vacuum but are largely driven by socio-economic and environmental factors. The emerging differences in COVID-19 complications by race/ethnicity are disturbing and might be in part driven by a higher prevalence of one or more pre-existing chronic health conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease at an earlier age among U.S. minorities, and as such, is not surprising, they said.