---
title: "Op/Ed: Minority COVID Rates Not Tied to Lack of Precautions"
date: 2020-08-11T15:00:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/oped-minority-covid-rates-not-tied-lack-precautions-18563dae-5edb-4d84-8929-22b0c6a3cf06"
section: Articles
---
# Op/Ed: Minority COVID Rates Not Tied to Lack of Precautions

*August 11, 2020* — by [Stella Rouse](/author/stella-rouse)


> Black and Hispanic Americans More Likely to Try to Protect Themselves, UMD Professor Finds

*Getty Images 1227956415 1920x1080 — A store sells face coverings in the largely Latino neighborhood of East Los Angeles. UMD Associate Professor Stella M. Rouse found that the minority populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic are often taking more precautions than their white counterparts, from wearing masks to limiting social gatherings.*

At a town hall meeting last month, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said that the high rate of coronavirus cases among Hispanics in the state was due to “less consistent adherence to social distancing and wearing a mask”—an assertion not only based in stereotypes but belied by data, said Stella M. Rouse, UMD associate professor of government and politics and director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement.

Writing yesterday in The Washington Post, Rouse explained how she dug into weekly public opinion surveys and found that the minority populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic are often taking more precautions than their white counterparts, from wearing masks to limiting social gatherings.

Read her full essay in The Washington Post.


**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Government and Politics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/government-and-politics), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences)