THE VIRUS
At the offset of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, some people in the African-American & Caribbean communities were buoyed by misinformation that black people are somehow immune from the virus.
I never understood how that would work, so I took the precaution to heed the warnings of the medical experts and advised my family to do so as well, vis-a-vis the wearing of masks, washing of hands, staying six feet apart from others where possible, showering immediately after entering my home, putting clothes worn outside in the laundry room, (wife enforced) among other common-sense safety measures.
In Jamaica, people are seen partying and ignoring the directives from authorities to observe safety protocols, not out of confusion or misinformation, but open defiance and rebellion.
That level of lawlessness not only places the participants at risk, but it also endangers the entire country and the limited resources available to the government to treat those who will get sick through no fault of their own.
MISINFORMATION
Other information in the public space that may have caused some degree of confusion & over-confidence, particularly among our people, is the idea that the virus does not like heat, or at best will die given the correct degree of heat exposure.[sic]
The truth of the matter is that literally every living thing on this planet will die given the right amount of heat exposure.
On the other hand, even if one lives in a hot climate, the disease will still kill people if they get infected and have some of the underlying pre-existing conditions the experts warned us, would make some people more vulnerable to dying than others. High blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes, obesity, lung disease, etc.
(Newscientist.com) asks the question: Will the COVID-19 outbreak caused by the new coronavirus fade as the northern hemisphere warms up? This has been suggested by some researchers and repeated by some political leaders, including US President Donald Trump, but we simply don’t know if it is the case. “We absolutely don’t know that,” says Trudie Lang at the University of Oxford. “I keep asking virologist colleagues this and nobody knows.”“So when you hear people say the weather will warm up and it will just disappear, it’s a very unhelpful generalization,” she says.
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2233249-will-the-covid-19-coronavirus-outbreak-die-out-in-the-summers-heat/#ixzz6JQSRya8v
Some of those conditions include simply being older, obese, having high blood pressure, suffering from diabetes, having kidney problems and a host of other conditions.
A little common sense will tell us that if we are suffering from one or more of those maladies, we generally have immune systems that are compromised & therefore it becomes harder to fight off illnesses like the COVID-19.
FOOD DESERTS
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It really is rather simple to understand. In the United States, for example, a lot of people in the African-America community are poor, in fact, poorer than other races based on our numeric representation in the society.
Some people live in communities that are called food deserts; “While there’s no one standard definition to go by, food deserts are generally considered to be places where residents don’t have access to affordable nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Instead of grocery stores or farmers’ markets, these areas often have convenience stores and gas stations with limited shelf space available for healthy options — making nutritious foods virtually inaccessible for many families.” (adapted)
In many communities, in states like California, Michigan,Missouri, and others, residents are forced to shop for food at the local corner stores and bodegas.
This limits them to eating a lot of processed foods that are packed with salts, sugars, and preservatives.
LACK OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES & ENDEMIC STRUCTURAL RACISM
Being at the bottom of the economic ladder place those in that socio-economic group at a distinct disadvantage. Not only are they unable to source healthy foods because of where they live, simply finding the money to purchase healthy foods becomes an issue.
Additionally, getting healthcare is increasingly difficult, even for African-Americans with health Insurance as institutionalized racism built into the system discriminates on the level of care people get based on the color of their skin.
According to the (cdc.gov) Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births (the pregnancy-related mortality ratio or PRMR) for black and AI/AN women older than 30 was four to five times as high as it was for white women. Even in states with the lowest PRMRs and among women with higher levels of education, significant differences persist. These findings suggest that the disparity observed in pregnancy-related death for black and AI/AN women is a complex national problem.
MAKING THE RIGHT DECISIONS
Thus far, from what we have seen in New York City, Chicago Illinois, Washington State, in Italy and even in Wuhan China, it is safe to conclude that like other viruses, people tend to be at greater risk when tightly packed into small geographical areas.
Getting distance between one’s self and others and observing other expert directives seems to be the thing to do.
Even as nations struggle to bring this pandemic under control each and every one of us has certain responsibilities to be receptive to governmental directives.
Regardless of pre-existing conditions, if we are able to avoid getting infected, we have a better chance of surviving than finding ways to survive after getting infected.
Additionally, this is an opportunity for us to take stock of ourselves collectively as a people. Where possible, we must begin the process of eating less fatty, sugary and processed foods, and consuming less alcoholic beverages. As the saying goes“we are what we eat”, so if we can avoid the foods that give us those preexisting conditions, and exercise, if we survive this pandemic we may also survive the next killer virus as well.