LANSING– Yesterday, Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman and State Representative Tyrone Carter held a press call highlighting the disparate impact the COVID-19 crisis is having on Black Michiganders and slamming Trump for his erratic response.
Here’s what they’re saying:
State Rep. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit) and Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman on Thursday called for more COVID-19 testing of African Americans and more reporting by race.
They pointed to state reporting that 33% of Michigan’s confirmed cases are African American and 40% of the deaths as alarming. Blacks compose only 14% of the state’s population.
They also were critical of the Trump administration’s delay in reacting to the virus spread through insufficient movement of health care supplies to states, something also raised by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and a bipartisan group of governors.
Waterman and Carter also said the state needs more testing kits because many infected people aren’t getting tested. The testing shortage has made it difficult for public health officials to target hotspots and identify infected people.
Public health officials say Black people have higher coronavirus mortality rates because of disparities in the health care system. Generations of racist housing and economic inequality have trapped many Black people in impoverished neighborhoods without adequate resources.
“We are still in the middle of the storm,” Carter said. “It is really impacting people I know in my community.”
“Once this is over, the numbers will rise higher, and it will be the African American community leading the way,” Carter predicted during a teleconference call with reporters.
Waterman said her city, the county seat, is a “hotbed” of coronavirus cases. The Oakland County COVID-19 dashboard reports Pontiac, with a population of 17,375 residents, has recorded 74 cases and three deaths, or about 42.69 positive cases per 10,000 residents.
