The Douglas County Health Department expressed alarm earlier this week at the number of Latinos, Asians and black residents becoming infected with the coronavirus.

As of Monday, Latinos made up 43% of Douglas County’s 1,635 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and Asians accounted for more than 15%, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Those figures are more than three times the population share of each demographic in the county.

Health officials said black residents also are confirmed ill from new coronavirus in a higher proportion than the population.

Douglas County’s population is nearly 70% white, but 77% of known COVID-19 cases in the county have occurred in people who are not white, officials said.

Dr. Adi Pour, director of the health department, said a high percentage of the county’s minority populations work in jobs that put them in regular face-to-face contact with the public, increasing their risk. A higher prevalence of chronic diseases in communities of color also means the coronavirus threatens to develop into serious medical complications or death in those communities, she said.

– Associated Press