Black Americans relatively common victim of coronavirus

The coronavirus hits black Americans above average in some places in the United States, the New York Times (NYT) newspaper reported Tuesday. In the state of Louisiana, about 70 percent of deceased patients are African-American, while only a third of the population is black.

According to the NYT, comparable statistics have been released in other places. In Chicago, Illinois, 72 percent of deceased patients are black, while African-Americans make up less than a third of the population. Mayor Lori Lightfoot talks about shocking figures.

Multiple factors

In many places in the U.S., information about the skin color of corona patients has not yet been published. That makes it difficult to form a picture of the national situation. However, it has already been shown that black Americans in some states also test positive for the virus above average.

Scientists say that multiple factors seem to play a role in this. For example, African Americans are less likely to have health insurance and are more likely to have health problems and jobs that they cannot do from home.

‘If you go outside and see who is still working, the data is not so surprising,’ a researcher told the newspaper.