[_tunic_]

Translation of an article in Dutch press:

Black US community hit harder by corona

President Trump himself acknowledged it in his press conference last night: there are a disproportionate number of corona deaths in the black community in the United States.

For example, only 30 percent of Chicago's population is African American, but 70 percent of fatalities are black. Similar relationships are reported in the cities of Milwaukee, New Orleans and Detroit, as well as in rural areas of southern America.

See image:
https://mobile.twitter.com/CTULocal1...362369/photo/1

The coronavirus does not discriminate. It does not choose sides or skin color, but the effects of an infection hit the black population harder.

Gary Harrell of Louisiana lost ten black friends and family members because of the corona virus. "It never occurred to me that it wasn't a diverse group of people," he says.

(see video in original article, link above)
US black community hit harder by corona: 'never occurred to me'

There are several reasons why relatively many black Americans fall victim. First, there is great income insecurity and poverty. Many black inhabitants of cities live in worse living conditions than white city dwellers. Their houses are often worse, the residents often have to go to work by busy public transport and in their neighborhoods there are often no good facilities such as supermarkets with healthy food.

Essential profession
As a result, the number of black people with obesity, stress and high blood pressure, liver disease and asthma is also higher than the national average. And those are the people who are especially vulnerable to the consequences of an infection, with lower chances of a cure.

The person who has a job often has a so-called essential profession. These are the jobs that are still carried out during this crisis and that cannot be done at home. Think of supermarket employees, parcel deliverers, hospital staff and taxi drivers. They have to keep working to keep their jobs and therefore have a greater chance of being infected.


A bus driver in Detroit: relatively many working black Americans have an essential AFP profession


In addition, parts of the black population do not have health insurance, because it is linked to a job in the US. Whoever loses his job also loses his health insurance.

As a result, people without a job and health insurance do not dare to go to the hospital if they feel sick, for fear that they cannot afford the care. This means that there is a chance that they will infect others without wanting to.


old school teacher
@DalphonMy
4 of the areas on the map with the highest #of cases are also in areas served by hospitals that are not trusted by the folks living in the neighborhood. I live in one of them and my neighbors will RIDE THE BUS 5-10 miles to get to a decent hospital. HELP!!!!! https://t.co/3JQxyXAdMz
one day ago

It is getting louder from the black community that black patients are not treated equally in these times of shortages in hospitals. Doctors would not take complaints about chest pain and shortness of breath seriously. This would cause unnecessary more deaths among the black population.

Thus the corona virus leaves a racial trace that can be traced back to the age-old fault line between black and white America.