The new coronavirus is killing African-Americans at a higher rate than the U.S. population at large, according to preliminary numbers from Louisiana, Michigan and Illinois that officials say point to disparities in health and healthcare access.
A local resident waits for the bus as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, in New Orleans, Louisiana U.S., April 7, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
The data is preliminary and not national and does not explain what is causing the disparities. However, community leaders and public health officials said it could reflect both higher levels of underlying illnesses that make African-Americans more vulnerable as well as possibly lower levels of access to healthcare.
QuanTez Pressley, a 33-year-old preacher at the Third New Hope Baptist Church in Detroit, said that issues such as lack of access to fresh foods and people crowded into small living quarters “make those individuals in marginalized communities more vulnerable to the worst outcomes of pandemics.” Civil rights groups and some lawmakers have criticized the CDC and some state health departments for not publicly releasing details on the racial breakdown of those dying or becoming critically ill from COVID-19.Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday stood before charts at a briefing showing the inequalities between white and black coronavirus victims in her city. African-Americans account for 72% of coronavirus deaths despite representing just about one-third of Chicago’s population of 2.
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