Reply to Why is Corona impacting African-Americans so harshly?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]First of all, we need to get out of this mindset from months ago that the virus affects jetsetters and airports.  It's EVERYWHERE now in all communities.

As to your question, inner city poverty like in New Orleans and Detroit has a lot of risk factors--lots of people in poor health--diabetes, heart disease, obesity.  Not to mention Detroit has an older population than the average in the US because younger people have fled because of the poor economic outlook. And, the hospitals these populations use are often poorly funded public hospitals that have been subject to cuts and are serving a huge population because other hospitals in the area have closed.

Finally, people may not be able to effectively socially distance in poor urban areas. Many people have larger numbers of people in a home (relatives, friends, etc.), plus they are more likely to use shared facilities like laundry, etc. Not to mention that people have to go out more to get groceries because they have less money to stock up and don't have cars to haul bulk items so they are limited by what they can carry. Not having cars also means they often have to take public buses to get  to the grocery store, medical appointments, work, etc.

And speaking of work, a lot of low-income people work in low-paid essential jobs that see exposure--not just grocery store clerks and gas station attendants but also things in the healthcare system with high risk like home health aide, nursing aide, hospital orderly, hospital laundry staff, etc...and if doctors aren't getting masks, hospital orderlies sure as hell are not.[/quote]

This is the most complete, thoughtful and accurate answer right here ^^

I am an ICU nurse working with COVID patients right now.  My patients — the first "wave" in the DMV — meet at least one criterion listed above.  [I read their charts and talk to their family so I do know if they, for example, live with 7 people or take the bus to work].

I would just add that the well-thought-out post above applies to people of all races/ethnicities, not just blacks.  So while this population in Detroit might be black, as OP indicates, this situation will play out differently in El Paso with Hispanic whites, etc.   [/quote]
Exactly. Thank you for your work.[/quote]

The only thing I would add to the above is lack of education and critical thinking skills, which means that even when they are in situations where they could voluntarily distance themselves, they choose not to. Again, that’s seen across all races.[/quote]

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