Trump: African American communities hard hit by COVID-19

The United States suffered its worst day of reported deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday, and officials say it appears some people are more at risk of dying from the virus.

News 12 Staff

Apr 8, 2020, 10:17 AM

Updated 1,707 days ago

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The United States suffered its worst day of reported deaths from the coronavirus on Tuesday, and officials say it appears some people are more at risk of dying from the virus.
"It's showing up very strongly in our data on the African-American community. And we're doing everything in our power to address this challenge. It's a tremendous challenge. It's terrible," says President Donald Trump.
In Michigan, 14% of the population is black, but they make up 41% of coronavirus deaths.  In Illinois, 15% of the population is African-American, but they account for 43% of deaths. Meanwhile, Louisiana is 32% black, but they have seen about 70% of the deaths in that state.
"When you look at the predisposing conditions that lead to a bad outcome with the coronavirus, the things that get people to ICUs, that require intubation and often lead to death, they are just those comorbidities that are unfortunately disproportionally prevalent in the African-American population," says Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The federal government hasn't counted coronavirus deaths by race, but the surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, and The American Medical Association are suggesting this should be done.