Statistics from Chicago health officials have underscored the heavy toll of coronavirus on black Americans. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the coronavirus was "devastating black Chicago".
Black Chicagoans account for half of all coronavirus cases in the city and more than 70% of deaths, despite making up 30% of the population. 1,824 out of Chicago's 4,680 confirmed Covid-19 cases were black residents, said city officials on Monday. That compared with 847 white, 478 Hispanic and 126 Asian Chicagoans. Chicago has seen a total of 98 deaths as of Sunday, with 72% of them black residents.
The disparity is reflected across the state, where black people account for 41% of Covid-19 deaths, despite making up 14% of the population of Illinois.
Chicago public health commissioner Dr Allison Arwady told reporters that black city residents already lived on average about 8.8 years less than their white counterparts.
Other cities with large black populations, including Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans and New York, have become coronavirus hotspots.
In Michigan, African Americans make up 14% of the population, but they account for 33% of the coronavirus cases and 41% of deaths, figures from the state health department showed on Monday. White residents account for about 23% of recorded cases in Michigan and 28% of deaths. African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County's nearly 1,000 cases as of last Friday and 81% of its 27 deaths, despite black people accounting for 26% of the population there,
Despite the claims, coronavirus is not the "great equalizer".
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52194018
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