In numerous regions of the United States, Covid-19 is killing Black people at a far higher rate than white people. And even where no official statistics yet exist, many political and health officials are pointing to this trend. Coronavirus is therefore exposing in a dramatic way the enormous contradictions of American society.

Ellen Barry ✓ @EllenBarryNYT

𝕏

Louisiana: Blacks are 1/3 of pop & 70% of virus fatalities.
Milwaukee: Blacks are 27% of pop but 60% of virus cses.
Chicago: Blacks are 27% of pop & 72% of virus fatalities.
The data are telling us an alarming story about race. We should listen.
nytimes.com/2020/04/07/us/…

♥ 333💬 43 7 apr 2020 · Apri su X →

In Chicago, 72 per cent of deaths are among Black people

According to reports in the American and international press, for instance, the federal state of New York – which represents the largest outbreak – has decided not to publish statistics relating to ethnic origin, despite this being standard practice for all socioeconomic surveys: employment, unemployment, health, education. But in Illinois, for example, 41 per cent of those who have died are people of colour, while they represent only 14 per cent of the population.

Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago, has explained that in the American metropolis the figure is even more dramatic: epidemic-related deaths affect the Black portion of the population in 72 per cent of cases, despite this group representing less than a third of the total. An element of inequality that, according to the mayor, "takes your breath away". Similarly, the mayor of Washington, Muriel Bowser, stated bluntly: "I am very concerned about the disproportionate impact the virus will have on African Americans." In North Carolina, Black people account for 31 per cent of Covid-19 deaths, although they represent 22 per cent of the population. In Louisiana – the state in which the capital New Orleans is located – the figures are even more stark: 70 per cent of deaths are among Black people, compared with 33 per cent of the population.

Listen to "07. Coronavirus, quando una pandemia apre il decennio più importante per il clima" on Spreaker.

"This is what it means to grow up Black and poor in America"

Speaking to CBS, Jerome Adams – anaesthesiologist and senior official of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps – explained: "We know that Black Americans are more affected by diabetes, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease." All conditions born of inequality – in terms of education and access to healthy food and healthcare – which are now manifesting themselves in a dramatic way in the United States amid the coronavirus emergency.

AJ+ ✓ @ajplus

𝕏

Black people are dying from #COVID19 at disproportionate levels across the U.S.

In Louisiana, 70% of all coronavirus-related deaths are of African Americans.

♥ 1106💬 104 7 apr 2020 · Apri su X →

Adams himself, a Black man, experiences all this first-hand: "I myself have hypertension. I have heart disease and have already spent a week in intensive care because of it. I have asthma and I am pre-diabetic. I am a clear example of what it means to grow up poor and Black in America."

Two thousand deaths a day from coronavirus in the United States

Given the alarming spread of the epidemic in the United States, the problem risks turning into a tragedy. Over the last two consecutive days, approximately two thousand people have died on American soil, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University. This brings the total number of deaths to nearly 15,000.

Infection cases in the North American nation now account for roughly a quarter of the global total. The United States figure has surpassed 400,000, with an increase of almost 30,000 in a single day between Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 April.