GEORGIA — Channel 2 Action News has obtained numbers from the Fulton County Board of Health, regarding COVID-19 cases and it’s broken down by race in Georgia.
According to the information, 44 percent of coronavirus patients are white, while 55 percent are African American.
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According to the board of health, nearly 45 percent of confirmed coronavirus patients are white.
Channel 2’s Audrey Washington was the first reporter to get those initial numbers.
The numbers are staggering and growing by the day right here in Georgia and in other states around the country.
Washington made some calls and learned exactly what’s behind the disturbing trend.
“Any time you see a race over-represented in an illness category, it’s scary,” Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford, with the Fulton County Board of Health, said.
Medical analysts say African Americans are dying from COVID-19 at alarming rates.
It even has the attention of the White House. Dr. Anthony Fauci talked about it Tuesday.
[RELATED: Fulton County to dole out $10 million to help seniors, homeless and small businesses]
In Michigan, African Americans make up 14 percent of the population, but 40 percent of coronavirus deaths.
In Chicago, the ratio is 30 percent to 68 percent.
Ford told Washington where Georgia stands so far.
Ford says many factors, including an early rumor that black people could not get COVID-19 initially fueled the lack of self-protection.
“Some folks of color felt like they didn’t need to because it wasn’t quote, on quote… a black disease,” Ford said.
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