THREAD: Black Texans already face health care disparities.
Here’s how the #coronavirus pandemic is making it worse. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
Here’s how the #coronavirus pandemic is making it worse. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
2/ Limited data released by state health officials offer a murky glimpse of the virus' impact on Texas communities of color because race and ethnicity are reported as unknown for a significant portion of the completed case reports. bit.ly/3epFnJ2
3/ But the disease is devastating black communities in urban center large and small across the country, @NatGeo reports: on.natgeo.com/35erqtc
4/ As the virus spreads, black Texans feel they’re facing a more pronounced susceptibility: Longstanding inequalities make them less likely to have access to proper health care, and more likely to face racial bias while trying to get treatment. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
5/ They also suffer disproportionately from certain maladies — like high blood pressure or heart disease — that make the virus more deadly. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
6/ Another worrying trend is that, in some cases, to be tested, people have to display mainstream symptoms of the virus — coughing, shortness of breath or fatigue.
For some, the symptoms of the virus present themselves entirely differently. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
For some, the symptoms of the virus present themselves entirely differently. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
7/ Missouri City Councilmember Jeffrey Boney wasn’t having respiratory symptoms, but he just knew something was wrong.
By the time he could get a coronavirus test on March 25, doctors found that both of his lungs were completely filled with pneumonia. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
By the time he could get a coronavirus test on March 25, doctors found that both of his lungs were completely filled with pneumonia. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
8/ He spent more than a week in the hospital.
“A lot of [black people] have told me they didn’t have the symptoms or that they were turned away because they had to meet certain criteria,” Boney said. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
“A lot of [black people] have told me they didn’t have the symptoms or that they were turned away because they had to meet certain criteria,” Boney said. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
9/ Minkah Makalani, an associate professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at @utaustin, said the history of redlining and segregating black people in Texas and elsewhere to underserved urban areas also plays a part in the disparate outcomes. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
10/10 Decades of those practices exacerbate health issues, he said, often culminating in a deadly combination for black Texans: condemnation to substandard housing, food deserts, inadequate access to health care and inferior health care services. bit.ly/2KL6LDC
