Of the 25 people confirmed to have died from complications of COVID-19 in Milwaukee County as of late Friday morning, 20 have been African American, two have been Latino and three have been white.

The respiratory virus is still being studied, but so far, experts have found higher rates of complications in patients over 60, especially those with chronic medical conditions.

That makes the virus particularly dangerous for African Americans as a population, who have higher rates of chronic illness, greater co-occurrence of illnesses — meaning they are more likely to have diabetes and high blood pressure, for example — and tend to develop those illnesses earlier in life.