COVID-19 Racial Disparities in Healthcare
June 23, 2020
OUTBOUND Pandemic Day 49. A commuter has the Red Line all to herself.Photograph by Edward Boches
Boston Globe ( June 19, 2020) reports that the state’s coronavirus cases, deaths, show a stark racial divide:
"…nearly 30 percent of COVID-19 cases in the state are among Hispanic residents, yet Hispanics account for just 12 percent of the population ... Black residents represent about 7 percent of the population, but are double that proportion in COVID-19 cases, at 14.4 percent.”
“…the rate of positive cases among Black and brown residents is more than three times that of white residents. But despite a state mandate in April that required labs and health care providers to report racial and ethnic information when testing residents, the latest state data show that crucial information is still missing on 35 percent of cases.”
"In nine of the 10 cities and towns with the highest infection rates, more than half of all residents identify as people of color, according to the report."
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In their recent report (June 16, 2020), Brookings finds that "In every age category, Black people are dying from COVID at roughly the same rate as white people more than a decade older. (Click here for the report.)
We will begin our conversation focusing on this WBUR Town Hall event held on the evening of June 9, 2020.
WBUR senior news correspondent Kimberly Atkins speaks with U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley; Dr. Paula Johnson, physician and president of Wellesley College; Dr. Mary T. Bassett, director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights and professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Augmenting the WBUR discussion are these two articles: one from the New York Times (April 5, 2020), Social Distancing is a Privilege ; and the other from The Atlantic (April 10, 2020), The Pandemic Will Cleave America in Two.
Opinion _ Social Distancing During the ...ic Is a Privilege - The New York Times.pdfThe Coronavirus Pandemic Will Cleave America in Two - The Atlantic.pdfAdditional Context and Related Material
America's Racial Contract is Showing, The Atlantic, May 8, 2020.
America's Racial Contract Is Showing - The Atlantic.pdfJason Hargrove (1970-2020) Essential Worker
On March 21, Jason Hargrove, Detroit bus driver, married father of six, recorded a video expressing his concern that people weren't taking the virus seriously (click on his photo to view the video). A week and a half later he was dead from complications of COVID-19. (1:19)
Black People Are Not to Blame for Dying of COVID-19 - The Atlantic.pdfBlack People are Not to Blame for Dying of the Coronavirus, The Atlantic, April 14, 2020.
(Note: If you're interested in hearing more from Ibram Kendi and others on this topic, go to Black Voices)
The Boston Globe and The New York Times writing about racial disparities in healthcare before the pandemic ...
From the Globe's December 2017 Spotlight Series "Boston. Racism, Image. Reality"
2018 Pulitzer Finalist in Local Reporting
GlobeSpotlightRaceHospitals.pdfHow False Beliefs in Physical Racial Di...in Medicine Today - The New York Times.pdfFrom the Times' August 2019 "1619 Project" that examines the legacy of slavery in America.
Nicole Hannah-Jones, creator of the project, Winner of the 2020 Pulitzer for Commentary
Should people of color trust the healthcare system?
The Tuskegee Study (4:42)
J. Marion Sims
Henrietta Lacks.pdfHenrietta Lacks
The American College of Physicians just released this Policy Statement on Racism and Health in the United States. (June 19, 2020) You can view it at https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-4195#.XvE1AUTrYI4.email
Here is one more analysis of the social determinants of risk. Based on a new study by researchers at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the article concludes with the statement, "our response to this disease must look beyond the strictly medical."
Written by Sharon Begley, STAT News ( June 15, 2020)
Additional Material Added After the Meeting
Why Surviving Covid Might Come Down to ...spital Admits You - The New York Times.pdfImportant article shared by Gail Mann. Link directly to the NYT on the left; view a pdf above.