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Warren Evans holds town hall on how COVID-19 is impacting African-Americans

Published  April 23, 2020 7:47pm EDT
Coronavirus in Michigan
FOX 2 Detroit

FOX 2 - Wayne County Executive Warren Evans took to Facebook Thursday to address COVID-19's disproportionate impact on the black community.

"The ultimate goal with all of this, is that we not only better understand where we are in regards to COVID, but where we are going when we start to come out of it," Evans said.

Wayne County Exec Warren Evans holds town hall on COVID-19 racial disparity

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans took to Facebook Thursday to address COVID-19's disproportionate impact on the black community.

The virtual town hall with Evans was a Q&A on how COVID-19 is impacting minorities.

"That very same diversity that we cherish philosophically, is always the group with the most poverty, with the most health care problems," Evans said.

Nationally the CDC reported 30 percent of patients whose race was known in data were black. The federal data was missing racial information for 75 percent of all cases. Racial stratification for deaths wasn't available. 

"These past few weeks have been painful for me personally," said Curtis Lipscomb, Brave Space LGBT Detroit.

"Not only is this a deadly disease, the makeup of the disease is tailor-made for those who are at the bottom of our social economic status," said Hiram Jackson, publisher of the Michigan Chronicle.

Many pre-existing inequities in health outcomes and health care are likely contributing. Right now for many people, mental and spiritual needs being met is also important.

"Historically black folk have always went to the church whenever they had problems and challenges and to overcome issues that impact them on a day to day basis. Today we have a challenge with the fact that, the churches are now closed. Where do people go to find help, to find hope?" said Daniel Baxter, Wayne County External Affairs.

For more perspective on that CDC data, black Americans make up 13 percent of the population but account for 30 percent of the cases.
 
Wayne County is the largest county in Michigan and has the largest black population. The largest city Detroit, has a population that is about 80 percent African-American.