In Michigan, if you are African American and poor, you are more likely to contract coronavirus. Detroit is the epicenter of the outbreak in Michigan. Data shows 52% of positive COVID-19 cases in Detroit are African American. The city’s black residents make up 77% of deaths from the virus. "This virus is holding up a mirror to our society, and reminding us of the deep inequities in our country, from basic lack of access to care, to access to transportation, to access to labor protections in the workplace," the Detroit Free Press reported Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer saying.
The Governor’s stay-at-home order is needed as hospital workers in Wayne county are at the brink. Nearly 3,000 healthcare workers in southeast Michigan have tested positive for COVID-19 or show symptoms of the virus. With many hospitals in the Detroit area at capacity, the strain on the city’s healthcare system is high. Of the 32,967 cases and 2,700 deaths in Michigan, over 80% are in Detroit and nearby suburbs, making the city ground-zero for the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on the nation’s poor.
