In October, Dr. Alex Garza, who is the now face of the STL region's medical #COVID19 response, wrote an article about how pandemics have a similar impact as gun violence. "They affect the poor and vulnerable disproportionately."
And it's now playing out.
stlamerican.com/news/local_new…
And it's now playing out.
stlamerican.com/news/local_new…
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page provided @StLouisAmerican with some preliminary data that confirms what Garza is seeing in the hospitals. According to calculations on rate per 100,000, African Americans are being infected at a rate 4 times higher than white county residents.
“That’s why we made the decisions we made before we had the data to prove it. My administration looks at every complex policy through a lens of equity & applies it aggressively and directs resources to where they are needed,” @DrSamPage.
Preliminary data from @WUSTL & @BJC_HealthCare shows that African Americans have 2.5 times higher odds of being admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. They are 2.2 times as likely to be transferred to the ICU once they are admitted & 4 times as likely to end up on a ventilator.
The black population experiences higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, among other compromising chronic conditions, so it’s “no mystery” that African Americans are getting sicker from COVID-19, said @laurie_punch.
Because hospitals can't have visitors, @laurie_punch said it’s very easy for this to not feel real. “It’s easy for young people to not understand the role they have in spreading it and being around older family members who are vulnerable."
Dr. Fredrick Echols, director of the @CityofSTLDOH, said they are trying to get data on race "cleaned up" to publicly report. However he was able to report that all 12 COVID-19 deaths in @STLCityGov were African Americans. His full statement here: stlamerican.com/your_health_ma…
Punch and Garza have met in the past about finding ways to address the gun violence pandemic. And they share many of the same views: that more needs to be done to ensure people make a living wage, have food security and safe housing in general.
“What we understand about violence should completely help us understand what we are seeing when it comes to #COVID19. The virus and the bullet are both vectors of structural racism.” - @laurie_punch
