Blacks hit hard in US as toll mounts
Trump raises concern as New York City hits another record of nearly 800 single-day fatalities
WASHINGTON: Covid-19 is killing a disproportionately high number of African-Americans, President Donald Trump and top public health experts said, acknowledging an emerging concern as the US recorded its highest singleday fatalities of nearly 2,000.
On Wednesday, New York City’s single-day death record worsened to 779. As US deaths topped 14,000 and confirmed cases rose to nearly 406,000, officials expressed cautious optimism that some of the severely hit areas may have stabilised. New York, the worst hit state with nearly 5,500 deaths, is looking at a “projected plateau” in hospitalisation numbers.
The disproportionately high death rate among AmericanAmericans has emerged as a new worry. “We’re seeing tremendous evidence that AfricanAmericans are affected at a far greater percentage number than other citizens of our country,” Trump said.
African-Americans comprise just 14% of the population in Michigan but account for 40% of deaths; 32% in Louisiana but 70% of all deaths; 30% in Chicago but 68% of fatalities.
Health officials have blamed the high death rate to the high incidence of underlying conditions such as blood pressure, heart ailments, diabetes, asthma and obesity among AfricanAmericans, linked to poverty and a lack of health care facilities.
US surgeon general Jerome Adams, who is African-American, said: “I and many black Americans are at higher risk for Covid. That’s why we need everyone to do their part to slow the spread.” He is pre-diabetic, has high blood pressure and suffers from asthma. “So I represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in America,” Adams said.
WHO CHIEF HITS BACK
“Please don’t politicise this virus,” pleaded World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday following stinging criticism of the WHO from Trump. “Quarantine, politicising Covid... we shouldn’t waste time pointing fingers,” he told a virtual briefing in Geneva, adding: “It’s like playing with fire... We need to behave.”