What are your thoughts? Negligence on our part or specific targeting?
Although only 30% of the city is Black, more than half of cases have reportedly hit urban communities the hardest, as 72% of the dead are African-Americas.
According to data shared by the city, 98 people have died from the deadly virus in Chicago. Of those 98 deaths, 67 were Black, per CBSNews.com.
“Fifty-two percent of our cases have been in black Chicagoans, and, most strikingly, 72% of our deaths here in Chicago,” said Chicago Public Health Department CommissionerDr. Allison Arwady.
In addition, the Latinx community appears to not be as affected, and many believe this could be due to underreporting of symptoms,CBS Chicago reports.
“What is turning out to be a positive attribute is turning into a risk factor,” MayorLori Lightfootsaid. “We are all in this crisis together, but we are not all experiencing this crisis in the same way.”
Blacks with underlying conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are most at-risk.
“Seventy-one percent of Chicago’s COVID-19 deaths have been in people over 60,” said Arwady, adding, “Diabetes rates among blacks in Chicago are double the rates of what they are for whites in Chicago.”