>The Polarization of politics and public opinion and their effects on racial inequality in COVID mortality: Evidence suggests that [the] shrinking gap in US COVID-19 racial death disparities [is] driven by political division and increasing total deaths among Whites [,] rather than decreasing deaths among Blacks.

The gap in COVID-19 death rates between White people and Black people is closing. But this is not because the death rate among Blacks is improving; instead the disparity is lessening because more White people are dying. And the reason more White people are dying is because many White conservatives are resisting preventative safety measures like masking and getting vaccinated.