IMPACT of Race

This is IMPACT. A daily look at how we are coping with the coronavirus in Nevada. I’m Carrie Kaufman.

Why is this night different from all other nights?

That’s a question that Jews all over the world ask every year at the Passover seder, which is happening tonight.

The story of Passover is the story of Jews escaping bondage in Egypt. It is the story of Moses, becoming aware of who he really was and fighting for his people.

It is a story about a … plague. And a leader who ignored the warnings until his first born son was threatened.

It is the story about GETTING THROUGH a plague. And gaining freedom.

At this moment, Jews all over America are looking at each other through their computer screens, not around their Seder tables.

This night. Is. Different.

But we will get through it.

NEWS:

Numbers. From WaPo

Worldwide, we are at 1.5 million cases. 100,000 more than yesterday. Almost 88,000 people have died around the world.

In the U.S., we have almost 423,000 confirmed cases, about 50 thousand more than yesterday. 14,400 people have died.

I should note here that when you look at the numbers adjusted for population, the U.S. looks far rosier than other countries - especially in Europe. We have more people here. We still have more deaths than any other country. Take that as you will.

In Nevada, on more person has died, bringing the number to 72. 2,269 people are sick. Or testing positive. Most of those numbers are in Clark County.

For context, New York numbers rose to 150,000 cases and over 6,200 deaths.

Closer to home - and to today’s topic - KLUC radio host Omari Mitchell is in better condition after spending the week in ICU at Southern Hills Hospital, the Review Journal posted today.

Akiko, Mitchell was apparently doing fine, then he just rapidly declined. This is why this virus is so scary.

The RJ also reports today that under the “independent contractors” provision of the CARES package, professional gamblers will be allowed to file for unemployment

And Megan Messerly reported in the Nevada Independent today that Humboldt County has 14 cases of COVID 19. Pretty large for a population of 17,000.

The Interview

If you’re watching the numbers closely, you begin to notice a pattern in coronavirus cases - and especially deaths. It started for me anecdotally. I would see a “rest in peace” on Facebook. A friend told me her ex-husband’s grandmother died, followed a couple of weeks later by her ex-husband’s grand FATHER. And I started to realize that almost all the deaths I was hearing about were black people.

Then I started looking at the statistics. In Chicago, black people account for 70 percent of COVID 19 deaths. But they only make up 32 percent of the population.

Just up I-95 in Milwaukee, it’s a similar story. 26 percent of Milwaukee’s population are African-American. Yet that demographic makes up 73 percent of COVID deaths.

Dougherty County in the southwest part of Georgia has statistics that are only eclipsed by New York, when you account for how big the population is.

Dougherty County is 71 percent black.

In fact, if you look up a map of the “black belt” that spans from Southeast Arkansas and Eastern Louisiana, then through Alabama and Mississippi, and you lay that map over a current coronavirus map, the similarities are pretty striking.

We are going to report on this pretty steadily as we go. Because the coronavirus has illuminated something that our society as a whole has been trying to ignore for some time: Black and brown people in the U.S. have lower life expectancy and more health issues than white people.

We’re going talk about why.

Joining us today is Lowryanne Vick. She’s a Ph.D in Nursing Practice and represents the Eta, Eta, Eta chapter of the Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc. - African American professional nursing association.