[COVID-19\African-Americans]
The coronavirus entered Milwaukee from a white, affluent suburb. Then it took root in the city’s black community and erupted.
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No, the coronavirus is not an “equalizer.” Black people are being infected and dying at higher rates.
Here’s what Milwaukee is doing about it — and why governments need to start releasing data on the race of COVID-19 patients.
The coronavirus entered Milwaukee from a white, affluent suburb. Then it took root in the city’s Black community and erupted.
As public health officials watched cases rise in March, too many in the community shrugged off warnings. Rumors and conspiracy theories proliferated on social media, pushing the bogus idea that Black people are somehow immune to the disease. And much of the initial focus was on international travel, so those who knew no one returning from Asia or Europe were quick to dismiss the risk.
Then, when the shelter-in-place order came, there was a natural pushback among those who recalled other painful government restrictions — including segregation and mass incarceration — on where Black people could walk and gather.
For rest of this ProPublica story log on here: https://www.propublica.org/article/early-data-shows-african-americans-have-contracted-and-died-of-coronavirus-at-an-alarming-rate
