Wisconsin was one of the first states that kept data on the racial demographics of those who are affected by COVID-19. Why was it important for that decision to be made?
In May of 2019, Milwaukee County declared racism as a public health crisis. And so we’re very aware that … we’re still the most segregated city in the United States. And with that segregation, you can layer all of the disparities on top of where Black people live. We talk about unemployment, over-policing, incarceration, housing insecurity, food insecurity, and limited access to health care.
When the initial numbers came back, it revealed that Blacks in your state were being affected more and dying at higher rates. What was the plan of action once those numbers were released?
We knew we had to ramp up action. The health department and the county were collecting cases by race. But it wasn’t posted initially. After we received feedback from various stakeholders, we did make the modification to the website and our teams have been responsive to make sure that we’re being very transparent. There are 45 confirmed deaths in Milwaukee, and of those 45 deaths, 33, of them are Black Americans.
What are the more glaring factors to why Blacks are more affected?
Access to health care is the top factor. But if you look further, it can be hard for some Black Americans to practice social distancing. There’s a lot of multi-generational families where everyone lives in the same household. If someone in the home is an essential worker, they have a higher chance of passing the virus to a family member inside the home. So it’s really making sure that our messaging is targeted to the Black community.
