Michigan Governor Claims Racial Disparities Connected to COVID-19

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is approving yet another COVID-19 virus related Executive Order. This one, EO No. 2020-55,  establishes a Task Force on racial Disparities. The Governor says the virus is disproportionately impacting communities of color throughout Michigan. The Governor’s office reports that while African Americans represent 13.6% of Michigan’s population, they represent 40% of the deaths from COVID-19. The new task force will have advisory level input to the Governor  as it works to study the causes of the disparities relating to the impact of COVID-19. The Governor is asking the Task Force members to immediately address the disparities. Governor Whitmer also wants the Task Force to study and address what she believes are the historical and systemic inequities that are involved. The latest report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services points out some of the related numbers.  The City of Detroit, which has an African American population of nearly 80 percent, is where a large percentage of the state’s active virus caseload (7,736), and deaths attributed at least in part to the virus (641) have occurred.