Ray Martin JUNE 2020

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nity in the state is especially vulnerable to infection
“As Georgia reopens many businesses
over objections from President Trump and
others, a new study illustrates the high
rates of corona virus infection among
black people in the state.
The report, released Wednesday by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
said that more than four-fifths of
hospitalized corona virus patients in the
study were black. They were not more
likely than other groups to die from the
disease or to require a ventilator. Still, of
the 297 patients in the study whose race
and ethnicity were known, 83.2 percent
were black.
“That is a very high rate of infections,”
said Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, a cancer
surgeon and the president of Howard University,
who was not involved in the
C.D.C. report. He said the high percentage
of blacks in the study likely reflects the
patients’ occupations.
“A lot of it may come from the fact that
African-Americans are essential employees
in our system,” he said, adding,
“Everything from bus drivers to health
care workers and cleaning services, they
are on the front line, and therefore are far
more likely to be exposed.”