The new coronavirus is killing African Americans at a higher rate than the US population at large, according to preliminary numbers from Louisiana, Michigan and Illinois that officials say point to disparities in health and healthcare access.

A protester calls for more attention to gun violence in African American community during a protest in Chicago, the United States, on September 3, 2018. Photo: Xinhua

The figures were reported by state and city leaders at briefings on the coronavirus, including Louisiana Governor John Edwards who said more than 70 percent of the 512 people killed by the coronavirus in Louisiana as of Monday were black, a much larger percentage than the state's population that black people represent, about 33 percent.

Michigan officials also said that the coronavirus took a disproportionate toll on African Americans with 40 percent of the reported deaths in the state, whose population is 14 percent African American. As of Tuesday, confirmed cases in Michigan were 18,970 with 845 deaths.

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.

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, acknowledging the early data, said on Tuesday that black Americans were more likely to have heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Diabetes, heart disease and long-term lung problems are the most common underlying conditions among Americans hospitalized with COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report published on March 31. One in five people requiring intensive care had no such health issues, it said.

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."

Some officials at the CDC and various state health departments over the past week have privately said the data they are receiving from hospitals is inconsistent.


Newspaper headline: COVID-19 killing African Americans at higher rate: state government data