COVID-19 was the leading cause of death among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in 2020, according to new research in Disability and Health Journal. The study, "COVID-19 Mortality Burden and Comorbidity Patterns Among Decedents with and without Intellectual and Developmental Disability in the US," was co-authored by Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology and O'Hanley Faculty Scholar, and Ph.D. student Julia Finan.

Landes says COVID may have taken a heavier toll on people with disabilities because they tend to get inadequate medical care and often live in group homes and other congregate settings associated with COVID spread.

Early in the pandemic group homes could not get gowns, gloves and other personal protective equipment to stop the spread of the virus because the government did not make group homes a top priority like hospitals and nursing homes, Landes says.

“The way prioritization was structured across the U.S. really failed this group,” he says.