And every patient (16) was African American. It's no revelation that it's hitting this race harder. But to see it in person is another thing. Think this is magnifying the current tensions in this country.

Is the vitamin d thing still the current theory here?

What percent of the community that your hospital serves is black?

Rachel 98 said:

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What percent of the community that your hospital serves is black?

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In metro 28%. Community near hospital I'd guess <5%.

I think it's multifactorial. Greater levels of obesity, DM, HTN etc. But talking to some of our black RNs, they have been congregating more in large groups than other races, including continual church services, etc thru the pandemic.

Capitol Ag said:

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Is it an economic, genetic or other reason? And at what ages and general health are these people in? What are you seeing in terms of patterns where you're at Doc. It makes me think of other diseases that can be particularly hard on certain ethnic groups. And if so, what precautions should your average, say 30-40 something African American do besides what's being called for with social distancing and masking etc? Should we be especially careful around our AA friends and family members?

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Elderly comorbid mainly. Many obese.

PearlJammin said:

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agsalaska said:

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PearlJammin said:

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Went to the grocery store a while back and every single person that was not wearing a mask was black. Have you guys seen all of the photos of crowded parks in the African-American community? They have been partying like it's 1999 and don't give a **** about this.

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Neither does anybody else. At least not in Texas.

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I haven't seen gatherings of no mask 400 white people in public parks. Have you?

I just think that culturally black folk don't take social distancing as serious.

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Have you not seen the photos of Lake of the Ozarks from last weekend?

zachsccr said:

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Marcus Aurelius said:

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But talking to some of our black RNs, they have been congregating more in large groups than other races, including continual church services, etc thru the pandemic.

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Can confirm. My neighbors have thrown A party every Friday night for 2 months AND a gigantic Easter blowout.

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Have multiple friends and family that have, regrettably, decided this is over, we've beaten COVID, and are now traveling about Texas visiting, partying, etc.

One just had his grandfather admitted to ICU for COVID and traveled this weekend to go party.

I can vouch for the OP as I've see the same thing, the VAST majority of the patients in major population centers in Texas are black or Hispanic. While the rates of chronic disease in these populations is higher, large social gatherings and low socioeconomic status are also much more prevalent in these groups. These are groups less likely to socially distance and, often, have barriers that prevent them from really doing so (low income housing, homelessness, etc.)

Infection_Ag11 said:

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I can vouch for the OP as I've see the same thing, the VAST majority of the patients in major population centers in Texas are black or Hispanic. While the rates of chronic disease in these populations is higher, large social gatherings and low socioeconomic status are also much more prevalent in these groups. These are groups less likely to socially distance and, often, have barriers that prevent them from really doing so (low income housing, homelessness, etc.)

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I think people forget about other socionomic factors as well. People in lower income brackets are likely to be working in food service, grocery stores, etc., where there's far greater risk of exposure.

Probably a lot of people continuing to work after showing symptoms. Easy to understand if that's the case.

94chem said:

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Probably a lot of people continuing to work after showing symptoms. Easy to understand if that's the case.

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Yup, you don't get to stay home sick if you get paid hourly.

For anyone interested, Morgan Spurlock did a series called 30 Days where he put people into a position where they were exposed to an all encompassing lifestyle that was the opposite of their beliefs or current situation for 30 days. For the very first episode he worked a minimum wage job and lived off that money for thirty days, and it's pretty eye opening. The series doesn't look to be streaming anywhere but you can find it online/YouTube with some searching.

Yes, hourly rarely have good benefits. One of my high school students last year was the oldest in his Hispanic family. A really nice young man. His dad was in prison which was ot the kids fault. He was going to high school trying to graduate, working a 40 hour a week job (he had just turned 18) after school. (we start really early and get out at three), and working a second 16 hour job on weekends. All to help his mom support the younger family member. He struggled in classes with much homework and had trouble staying awake on some days. I am sure he is one who was working full time during the shut down. At least at one of his two jobs.

I am not sure privilege is totally race based, but it is economics based. And that does co-exist with race in some cases.

I was privileged to be part of a middle class family with two parents and one sibling. I was expected to focus on school not have a job to help support my family as a teen. I raised my kids the same way. And now that I teach at a working class high school, families like that are the exception. The older kids either have jobs to help support the family OR provice child care for the younger siblings so that mom and dad might even be working two jobs each. It is an entirely different way of life.

DTP02 said:

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fig96 said:

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94chem said:

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Probably a lot of people continuing to work after showing symptoms. Easy to understand if that's the case.

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Yup, you don't get to stay home sick if you get paid hourly.

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Between the FFCRA and the unemployment benefit stipends many hourly workers can and are staying home and making the same money, or even more, still.

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Sure, but that's both only a short term solution and great that they can actually get sick leave. Would also be curious if there's any data on the "are" part.

Also might be an indicator that a lot of people we're calling essential are very underpaid.