Black Americans And The Poor Hit Hardest By Covid-19

Evidence is emerging showing that Black Americans and poor people are being hit hardest by Coronavirus, suffering higher rates of infection and death than other sections of US society.

As this article in ProPublica makes clear, the higher rate among Blacks is largely due to economic, social and environmental disadvantages suffered by that community. Data derived in one county in Wisconsin where Blacks account for 26 per cent of the population, shows that African-Americans account for over half the Covid 19 victims and 80 per cent of the deaths.

The internet news service Axios has also published links to research carried out by The Charlotte Observer and The Wall Street Journal showing that race and class are strong determinants of vulnerability. One county in Charlotte, North Carolina recorded a 44 per cent rate of Black infection while less than one-third of the population is African-American. In New York, the WSJ reports, Coronoavirus is more prevalent in working class and the traditionally poor Orthodox Jewish areas of Queens and Brooklyn.

All this would go some way to explain Trump’s less than concerned attitude toward the pandemic.