The United States once again suffers its worst day of reported deaths from the novel coronavirus.
Officials say it appears some people are more at risk of dying from the virus.
People in all 50 states are infected, but one group of Americans is more susceptible to 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,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
In Michigan, 14% of the population is black, but they make up 41% of coronavirus deaths.
Over in Illinois, 15% of population is African-American or black, but they account for 43% of deaths.
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 ICU’s, that require intubation and often lead to death, they are just those comorbidities that are unfortunately disproportionally prevalent in the African-American population,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Among the victims, Jason Hargrove, a bus driver from Michigan who got sick four days after posting a video clip on Facebook warning of the virus.
50-year-old Hargrove died last week from COVID-19.
The federal government hasn’t counted coronavirus deaths by race, but Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams and the American Medical Association are suggesting this should be done.
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