CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - African Americans in the area of North Carolina’s largest city are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19, according to data released by local health officials.
Figures from Mecklenburg County health officials show black residents accounted for 43.9% of 303 confirmed COVID-19 cases locally through Saturday, The Charlotte Observer reported. By comparison, the U.S. Census estimates from last July show African American residents make up only 32.9% of Mecklenburg County’s population.
George Dunlap, the chairman of the Mecklenburg County commissioners, said if black residents are disproportionately represented in the case count, it may be because they’re more often seeking testing. So far, Mecklenburg County Public Health Director Gibbie Harris has not disclosed how many people have been tested for COVID-19 or released demographics for those who had negative test results.
Charlotte City Council member Braxton Winston, who is black, said leaders will need to “wrap our proverbial arms around our most high-risk communities.”
“That is going to be so important in flattening the overall curve … Equity should really inform us of segments of our population that could be most disproportionately affected by this,” Winston said.
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