To the Editor:

Re “Black Americans Bear the Brunt as Deaths Climb” (front page, April 8) and “The Racial Time Bomb in the Covid-19 Crisis,” by Charles M. Blow (column, nytimes.com, April 1):

Though the virus may not be racist, structural inequalities — the sturdy products of racial discrimination — shape health outcomes.

The devastation handed to us after this pandemic will be no exception. This raises the question of how we engage some of our most systemically vulnerable populations.

First, we need more states to follow New York, Michigan, Louisiana and the Carolinas and make Covid-19 outcomes by race and ethnicity available. Don’t keep people in the dark, including local advocates who can develop strategic interventions.

Next, be inclusive of more disenfranchised populations in public health messaging by drumming home more nuanced statements like “if you have had limited access to quality health care before now, be especially vigilant for progression of your symptoms.”