Health Gap Community:
Here is our Friday update, including details about a Virtual Town Hall on Saturday, and continuing coverage of COVID-19’s impact on the African American community. As always, please let us know if you have questions or suggestions, and please stay safe!
Best,
Renee Mahaffey Harris,
Health Gap President & CEO
On Saturday at 4:00pm, Health Gap CEO Renee Mahaffey Harris joins a panel of local leaders for a Virtual Town Hall to discuss the COVID-19 emergency and its impact on our community. Renee will be joined on the panel by:
A Tragedy in Cities Nationwide
In St. Louis, 12 people had died from COVID-19 as of Wednesday evening, and all of them were black, according to city Health Director Dr. Fredrick Echols. Click here to read the whole story and get insights about why our African American community is disproportionately affected by this health emergency. You can also read about the local and national impact on the Black community, with stories in the Washington Post, Slate Magazine, Essence, and The Grio.
Also, a New Map in Rolling Stone Magazine shows how COVID-19 Is hitting people of color the hardest.
Acknowledgment from One of the Country’s Top Doctors
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, struck an emotional tone at Tuesday’s White House coronavirus press briefing when discussing the disproportionate COVID-19 death toll facing African Americans in some places. He said: “And the reason I want to bring it up, because I couldn’t help sitting there reflecting on how sometimes when you’re in the middle of a crisis, like we are now with the coronavirus, it really does, ultimately, shine a very bright light on some of the real weaknesses and foibles in our society.”
Fauci said death rates and intensive-care intubations were higher among African Americans because of a greater prevalence of “underlying medical conditions — the diabetes, the hypertension, the obesity, the asthma.” Click here for the full story.
Health Gap Serving as Media Expert
Several local media outlets have reached out to the Health Gap for insights about how COVID-19 is affecting Cincinnati’s African American community. Check out the media stories on Local 12, WCPO/Channel 9, and WVXU.
