When race is a pandemic risk factor

The numbers are striking: As of this week, there are well over a quarter-million cases of COVID-19 reported in the United States. More than 12,000 people have died and all Southern states except Arkansas have issued shelter-in-place orders.

Some projections say that as many as 240,000 people in the United States could die of the virus, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that, in addition to practicing social distancing and washing hands frequently, everyone should wear a face mask when going out in public.

I don’t want to talk about our leaders’ failure to lead in this national crisis. I don’t want to analyze the serious shortages in personal protective equipment for hospitals, health care providers and emergency responders across the country. I don’t even want to complain about those who still don’t take this public health emergency seriously and put others’ lives at risk.

Today I want to talk about the striking racial disparity the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted here in America. Here are some more numbers:

• Asthma rates among black families and children are 20 percent higher than white families;  
• Black families are 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure;
• Diabetes diagnoses in black communities are more than double that of whites.

And, apart from age and compromised immune systems, what other underlying conditions put one at greater risk of contracting COVID-19? Chronic lung disease, asthma, hypertension, heart disease and diabetes.

Now you start to see what I’m talking about. Now you can understand recent reports that in Michigan, African Americans make up 12 percent of the state’s population but account for at least 40 percent of its coronavirus deaths. In Chicago, a reported 70 percent of those dying from COVID-19 are black.

Think about South Carolina, which has stubbornly refused to expand Medicaid, causing hospitals to close in rural, typically minority communities. Imagine waking up one morning with symptoms of the virus and having no hospital to go to. Might that impact your “health outcome”? 

Think about the racial wealth gap and the fact that, before the coronavirus recession, the annual median income for African Americans was roughly $40,000, compared to over $68,000 for non-Hispanic whites. Imagine being asked to stay at home when you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck and you get paid only for the hours you work — if your company remains open and you’re still employed, that is. Imagine looking at bills you can’t pay, and children you can’t feed, if you self-quarantine. What decision would you make?

How many kids don’t have access to remote learning because many minority communities don’t have broadband access?

Finally, how many COVID-19 deaths could be prevented if health care in America were more affordable and accessible for all? 

Our government wasn’t prepared for this pandemic. Now the Trump administration warns this could be the toughest week, in terms of people dying, and the fact that the spread of this virus could have been better controlled makes that even more tragic, regardless of race. Yet we cannot ignore that race appears to be a COVID-19 risk factor. And that, at least, is something we could address. The question is whether we will.

Antjuan Seawright is a Democratic political strategist, founder and CEO of Blueprint Strategy LLC, and a CBS News political contributor. Follow him on Twitter @antjuansea.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect the current shelter-in-place orders.