President Trump on Tuesday vowed to investigate the high rate of coronavirus deaths among black Americans.
“It doesn’t make sense and I don’t like it,” Mr. Trump said at coronavirus task force briefing at the White House.
Recent medical data has shown COVID-19 killing black Americans at three or four times the rate of white Americans and other ethnic groups.
In hard-hit Louisiana, state health officials said 70% of the 582 deaths attributed to the virus as of Tuesday were in the black population.
Mr. Trump said the fight against coronavirus was aimed at aiding and protecting all Americans.
“We are helping them a lot,” he said. “We are trying to find out why it is three or four times … more [deadly] for the black community.”
Dr. Anthony, a top National Institutes of Health scientist and a key member of the task force, said a possible explanation was the black communities’ high rates of diabetes and other underlying medical conditions that result in severe COVID-19 cases.
“We’ve known literally forever that diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and asthma are disproportionately affecting minority communities, particularly African Americans,” he said at the briefing. “We’re very concerned about that. It’s very sad. There’s nothing we can do about it right now except to give them the best possible care to avoid those complications.”
Dr. Fauci later said that health emergencies can shine “a bright light” on weaknesses in society.
“Health disparities have always existed for the African American community but here, with this crisis, it’s shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is,” he said.
The doctor said that after the coronavirus is gone, disparities within the black population will persist and must be addressed.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this report.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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