Lightfoot declares ‘public health red alarm’ about racial disparity in COVID-19 deaths

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday outlined a sweeping plan to bridge a racial divide tied to the coronavirus pandemic that mirrors the life expectancy gap between black and white Chicagoans: 72% of city residents who have died from the virus are African American.

Through Sunday, 1,824 black Chicagoans had been diagnosed with COVID-19. That’s 52% of those who tested positive, in a city where African Americans make up 30% of the population.

Of those who died, 72% are African American. The death rate for non-Latinx blacks is seven times higher than for non-LatinX blacks.

“This is not, I’m sorry to say, a surprising story,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, pointing to the higher incidence of chronic diseases among African Americans and to unequal access to health care, healthy food choices and safe, walkable streets.

Lightfoot wasn’t surprised either, having made the war on poverty her central focus before the coronavirus pandemic. But, she said the numbers “take your breath away” nevertheless.

“This is about health care accessibility, life expectancy, joblessness and hunger,” she said.

“We’re seeing this manifest in large urban areas with large black populations all over the United States. Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit ... are experiencing the same thing. But we are going to step up and do something about it.”

The mayor declared a “public health red alarm” that calls for attacking the problem on multiple fronts:

• A “non-negotiable” requirement that health care providers collect from their patients and turn over to the city “a complete suite of demographic information, including race and ethnicity for each COVID-19 patient they test or treat” so the city can “understand the magnitude” of the problem.

That all-important patient ethnicity record is currently missing in roughly 25% of the city’s coronavirus cases.

“It is up to the health care providers who are on the front-lines not to skip over the boxes that provide us with the demographic information that’s essential for us to understand the impact on black and brown communities. You must do this and we will order it to happen,” Lightfoot said.

• Increased surveillance of groceries and convenience stores to enforce the social-distancing requirement that patrons remain at least six feet apart. Under questioning, the mayor also raised at least the possibility of targeted curfews in areas where people gather around liquor stores.

“We’ve heard reports across the city, particularly on the South Side, where some retailers are not advancing social distancing as they must. We are sending inspectors out. We will demand that you do this. And if you do not, we will shut you down,” Lightfoot said.

• Articulated buses that normally operate on Lake Shore Drive will be relocated to the South and West sides to make social-distancing possible, even on routes that remain crowded with essential employees trying to get to work.

• A so-called “racial equity rapid-response team” led by West Side United that includes public health experts, personnel from provider networks and local community activists and stakeholders.

Lightfoot said West Side United “has a model that works and we will deploy it throughout the West and South Sides” to help bridge the gap. AARP has offered to “activate its vast network” towards the same end, she said.

Street outreach workers normally used to stop gang violence will be employed as “messengers” on the South and West sides to provide information and conduct “well-being checks” focused on “disconnected” residents.

“This will be a hyper-local, tactical effort to reach vulnerable people, educate them about options where necessary and connect them with services to help fight the spread of this disease,” the mayor said.

“Outreach will focus on those over 50 and those with underlying health conditions. Supports will include symptom monitoring, testing and pro-active health care engagement. This team will be integrated into the city’s emergency operations center just as all of our other working groups have been fighting day and night to fight this disease.”

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic brought everyday life in Chicago to a halt, Arwady had said her primary goal was narrowing the nine-year gap in life expectancy between black and white Chicagoans.

The so-called “death gap” between people who live downtown compared to parts of the West Side is an even more astounding 16 years.

To combat infant mortality, one of the five driving forces behind that gap, the city launched a pilot program last fall to have a home nurse visit inner-city mothers three weeks after they give birth.

Three months later, West Side hospitals and the Chicago-based American Medical Association agreed to contribute $6 million — nearly twice their prior commitment — to community and health improvements on the West Side.

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Against that backdrop, it’s tragic, but not surprising that the coronavirus is “devastating black Chicago,” as the mayor put it.

But she is determined to stop it.

“All these numbers, all these ZIP codes, all these statistics — these are people. These are our sisters, our brothers, our mothers, our fathers, our children,” the mayor said, lowering her voice to barely a whisper.

“Never forget that, in this time when we’re talking about these cases and we’re talking about hospital beds, someone, some family, some community is being deeply and irreparably touched in this moment.”

Rev. Marshall Hatch Sr. served as the “human face” of that pain, joining Lightfoot for the announcement.

Over the last week, he has lost his sister, his best friend and two parishioners to the coronavirus.

“As a pastor, I was challenged to preach through my virtual sermon on Sunday and get through a communion virtually while helping these families to plan for memorial services where we will have to be socially distant. The pain is real,” Hatch said.

Hatch closed by quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., saying that, “of all the disparities caused by” societal inequities, health care “might be the most inhumane.”

Hatch added: “This pandemic of 2020 magnifies that truth…Poverty kills.”