Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared racism a public health emergency Wednesday, citing the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on minority communities. Photo courtesy Michigan Governor's Office
Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday declared racism a public health crisis, citing the disproportionate toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on the state's minority communities.
An executive order issued by the Democratic governor calls on the state's health department to make health equity a priority and establishes mandatory implicit bias training for all state employees.
"The pandemic has confirmed and highlighted the deadly nature of these pre-existing inequalities caused by systemic racism," Whitmer told reporters.
Michigan health officials say the rate of reported cases for Black residents is more than three times higher than for White residents at 14,703 per million, while the death rate is four times higher at 1,630 per million.
"This reflects long standing, deep societal economic and environmental disparities," Whitmer said.
The state has recorded more than 92,000 COVID-19 infections and nearly 6,500 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Along with the order recognizing racism as a public health crisis, Whitmer also signed a measure creating a Black Leadership Advisory Council, designed to advise the governor on developing policies and actions meant to "eradicate and prevent discrimination and racial inequity in Michigan.
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Senate Democrats introduce bill to address COVID-19 racial disparity
Senate Democrats on Wednesday calling for the Trump administration and states to increase testing and outreach programs to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
July 22 (UPI) -- Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., led the introduction of a bill Wednesday seeking to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color.
The COVID-19 Health Disparities Action Act would require the Trump administration to develop an action plan to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 to provide targeted testing, contact tracing and outreach efforts directed at communities of color.
"COVID-19 has had a particularly devastating impact on racial minorities across America," said Menendez. "The fact is Black and Brown Americans suffer higher rates of chronic disease, inequitable access to healthcare, fewer economic opportunities and in some cases real language barriers."
The bill would also require states to revise testing and contact tracing plans to address racial and ethnic minority, rural and other vulnerable populations and ensure that federally funded contact-tracing
efforts are tailored to the radical and ethnic diversity of local communities.
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The senators noted that African Americans are dying of COVID-19 at approximately 2.5 times the rate of White people, according to the COVID Racial Data Tracker, while American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic and Asian American communities are also being affected by the virus at disproportionate rates.
"Health disparities for people of color is rooted in systemic racism, racial discrimination and record-high levels of income inequality," said Cardin.
Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that COVID-19 has also had a greater impact on younger people in communities of color as more than 34% of Hispanic and Latin Americans who died from the virus were younger than 65 and 30 percent of Black Americans who died from COVID-19 also were younger than 65, compared to just over 13% of White Americans.
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World moves to reopen amid COVID-19 pandemic
A patron looks at the Edgar Degas' sculpture, titled "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen," in the "Degas at the Opera" exhibit in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, on the first day it reopened to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Washington, D.C., on July 20. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
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