Erie County Releases Statistics of COVID-19 Deaths by Race

Statistics from around the country that show African-Americans are dying at disproportionate rates from COVID-19. Erie County has released it's data.

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"We're actively engaging on the problem of increased impacts -- this is a real problem and it's showing up very strongly in our data -- on the African-American community." ~ President Trump via CNN

COVID-19 statistics seem to show that the disease is affecting African-Americans disproportionately. According to NBC News, a recent report coming out of Chicago found that black people made up 70 percent of the people who died from COVID-19, even though black people only account for 30 percent of the population. The statistics are similar for other areas, including Milwaukee County, where 81 percent of the deaths due to coronavirus are black folks, who represent 27 percent of the population. Public health officials have noted similar trends in Philadelphia, Detroit and other cities, like Buffalo.

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"I'm concerned this will be yet another case where there's a huge difference between people who are more wealthy and people who are poor, and there's going to be a difference between people of color and how much they suffer. We have a longstanding legacy of bias and racism in our country and we’re not going to get beyond that quickly.” ~ Dr. Marcus Plescia, the chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials via NBC News