Maryland governor calls disproportionate coronavirus deaths among African Americans ‘very disturbing’

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Sunday called the disproportionate coronavirus deaths among African Americans in his state “very disturbing.”

The governor told ABC’s “This Week” that he requested a study to track the number of cases and deaths by race because it wasn’t being monitored by anyone, including the federal government. 

{mosads}The study found that black Marylanders make up 52 percent of the deaths from the coronavirus despite making up only 31 percent of the state’s population. 

“This disparity among African Americans is very disturbing,” Hogan said. “It’s why I called for the study. You know nobody was really tracking these things.”

He said the state has backtracked and has data on race for 80 percent of cases and plans to release it by ZIP code Sunday or Monday. 

“This disparity among African-Americans is very disturbing,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says, adding this is why he called for study to track the infections by race.

Hogan says MD has data on race for 80% of cases so far and will release data by ZIP code. https://t.co/47Lf6tw8a9 pic.twitter.com/32lAFL2bn0

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 12, 2020

The governor also told “This Week” co-host Martha Raddatz that he successfully advocated for the federal government to consider the Baltimore-Washington corridor a hot spot for the virus. He said the area contains the highest population centers and the highest concentrations of black and Hispanic communities.  

“The vast majority of our resources are focused on that Baltimore-Washington corridor and these communities that you’re talking about,” he said. “It’s where almost all of our attention, all of our focus, all of our money, all of our health care, all of the assistance from the national guard — it’s really where all of our testing is being done.”

“It’s where we’re directing all the resources,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan tells @martharaddatz when asked how the state is using data showing African-Americans are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 to help those communities. https://t.co/MEryDN0P8i pic.twitter.com/gsk7OfViA3

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 12, 2020

Hogan, the chairman of the National Governors Association, also addressed President Trump’s Friday comments that the White House is not receiving any calls from governors requesting medical supplies. He said he still receives calls from governors every day.

“I think we’ve certainly seen improvement over the past week to the week before,” he said.

But he added, “I think to say that everybody’s completely happy and that we have everything we need is not quite accurate.”

Governors across the country have been fighting for medical supplies to keep their overwhelmed hospitals running, with several calling on Trump to get their states more supplies. 

State and local statistics have shown that the virus is disproportionately affecting minority communities, specifically black communities. But federally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not released data broken down by race.

As of Sunday morning, Maryland has confirmed 8,225 cases, which have led to at least 235 deaths and 1,860 hospitalizations, according to the state’s health department.