Recent research published in the journal Pediatrics revealed shocking disparities among children of color and white children who tested positive for COVID-19. The children age 0 to 22 were tested in the Washington, D.C. area after they arrived at a drive-through and walk-up site presenting with mild symptoms this past spring.

According to Huffpost, of the approximately 20% of kids testing positive, only 7% of white children were positive, compared to 30% of Black children, and more than 46% of Hispanics. The researchers also reported gaping economic differences among the children. Fewer than 10% of those who tested positive were from high income families, compared to 38% of children from the bottom economic quartile.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that members of racial and ethnic minority groups are at increased risk of getting COVID-19 or experiencing severe illness, regardless of age. The CDC offered new data to show that in America, the death rates among Blacks and Hispanic/Latino people are much higher than for white people, in all age categories.

“What we are finding with respect to disparities is very consistent with what we are seeing with adults,” said study researcher Dr. Monika Goyal, M.D., associate division chief of emergency medicine at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., according to Huffpost.

She suggested to improve matters, health officials and physicians should deliver their messages about wearing masks and social distancing in “culturally competent” ways. Ensuring that families have adequate food is another way to make a difference.

“I think that COVID has realty shone a spotlight on disparities, and I really hope with that spotlight being shone, this will be a call to action in our society,” Goyal told Huffpost.