African Americans have higher rates of underlying conditions including diabetes, heart disease and lung

disease that are linked to more severe cases of COVID -19

A few pointers for your answers:

How do social class and race affect health?

Poor social class means less access to quality healthcare. 

Different races different genetic factors, making them prone to different diseases. 

Why do you think there was a large disparity? 

Disparity could be large due to; different occupations, multi-generational housing and
healthcare.