COVID-19 data in Shelby County shows impact greater on African-Americans, those with pre-existing co

[SheltieLover]

[link:https://www.localmemphis.com/mobile/article/news/health/coronavirus/covid-19-data-in-shelby-county-shows-impact-greater-on-african-americans-those-with-pre-existing-conditions/522-55d06a01-e195-488e-bc99-2a963cf83fdf|

Of the quarter of Shelby County's total confirmed cases recorded so far (230 of the 897), health experts said more than two-thirds were African-American, and more than two-thirds of the total deaths were also African-American

This is alarming! But I'm not sure it is out of whack since the demographics for the Memphis area are: Black 64.22%, White 29.08, Other Races 3.36%. So is this high percentage indicative of the population make up, or is there something else going on here? (Sorry, math is def not my forte. 😊

[msongs]

1. 64.22 is a tad over 2/3 nt

[SheltieLover]

2. Well

Again, I absolutely do not mean to minimize the statistics. I realize 2/3 = 66.3% or thereabouts, but it is fairly close.

When we used to recruit for a college I worked at, to ensure fairness, we were required to have the same or very close % of each racial mix of the community on staff.

But in other areas, Chicago for instance, The infection & death rate is disproportionately high for AA folks, especially for men, which is exceptionally alarming!

[Igel]

3. The 2010 census data suggests it is out of whack.

Then again, the data are 10 years old and things change.

https://shelbycountytn.gov/211/Demographics

For 2010:

The racial makeup of the county was:
◦52.10% African American
◦40.60% Caucasian
◦5.60% Hispanic or Latino of any race
◦2.30% Asian
◦3.30% from other races
◦1.40% from two or more races
◦0.20% Native American
◦0.047% Pacific Islander

Underlying medical conditions, local cultural/social norms, compliance with social distancing, work-related constraints on implementing social distancing, anything funny like church or residency (because those tend to self-select for age and subculture) ...

What's really hard to realize is that today's death numbers are for infections that happened anywhere from 1 to 3 or 4 weeks ago.