This study characterizes the trends in rates of SARS-CoV-2 positive test results among individuals in the Baltimore-Washington, DC area by self-reported race/ethnicity. The authors found that more than 40% of Latinos who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 were positive, a much higher proportion than for any other racial/ethnic group.

Samples were collected from 37,727 patients who were seen in 5 hospitals, including emergency departments, and 30 outpatient clinics that are part of the Johns Hopkins Health System between March 11, 2020, and May 25, 2020.

Of these patients:

• 6162 (16.3% [95% CI, 16.0%-16.7%]) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2
• The positivity rate for Latino patients was 42.6% (95% CI, 41.1%-44.1%), significantly higher than the rate for white patients (8.8% [95% CI, 8.4%-9.2%]), black patients (17.6%; 95% CI, 16.6%-18.3%), or those of other race/ethnicity (17.2% [95% CI, 16.2%-18.3%])
• The daily positivity rate was higher for Latino patients than patients in the other racial/ethnic groups
• Moving average trends in positivity rate peaked later for Latino patients at 53.4% (95% CI, 49.6%-57.3%) on May 10, 2020, compared with white patients (16.1% [95% CI, 14.1%-18.3%]) on April 16, 2020, and black patients (29.6% [95% CI, 26.9%-32.6%]) on April 19, 2020
• As testing volume increased over time for all racial/ethnic groups, positivity rates declined
• Among those who tested positive, 2212 (35.9% [95% CI, 34.7%-37.1%]) were admitted to a JHHS hospital
• The admission rate was lower for Latino patients (29.1% [95% CI, 27.0%-31.2%]) than for white patients (40.1% [95% CI, 37.6%-42.5%]) or black patients (41.7% [95% CI, 39.5%-43.8%])
• Hospitalized Latino patients were younger (a greater proportion aged 18-44 years), more likely to be male, and had lower rates of hypertension, congestive heart failure, pulmonary disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than white or black patients