‘People are dying’

The coronavirus has already devastated Detroit, infecting more than 2,400 people and killing community leader Marlowe Stoudamire, Detroit Police Capt. Jonathan Parnell and Wayne County Sheriff’s Department Cmdr. Donafay Collins. The virus is suspected in the death of state Rep. Isaac Robinson.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig, Highland Park Police Chief Hilton Napoleon and state Rep. Tyrone Carter all have contracted the virus.

All are black except Robinson.

“All the people I’ve known so far — 80 percent that I know that have passed away [from coronavirus] — have been black males,” Carter said.

But several Detroiters told Bridge that the city is being accused of spreading the virus in part because of a handful of social media videos that showed residents congregating long after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued stay-at-home orders.

Though it’s true African Americans have been hit harder, it’s mixing with old suburban animosities and it’s “turning into racist stuff,” said DeMeeko Williams, a Detroit activist.

“People keep saying black parties spread this. [In fact,] the government was unprepared,” said Williams, who has four friends and relatives who have died of the virus.

“I guess black lives don’t really matter. If people are dying more in Detroit, maybe that’s why there is more attention.”

As of Wednesday, 83 people have died in Detroit, a city of 670,000. Oakland County, which has nearly twice the population, has 99 deaths.

Several epidemiologists and public health experts told Bridge that releasing data on coronavirus cases could help target resources, but others warned it could harm communities of color.

The possibility that “this data could then be used to further discriminate ... is really something that we should be thinking about,” said Melissa Creary, an assistant professor of health policy at the University of Michigan.

“It’s the threat of being able to link those patterns to whole populations and create a narrative of fear, unworthiness or uncleanliness, whatever it may be, that’s really the part we want to avoid.”

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the media has unfairly put the city in the spotlight.

“It’s been kind of disturbing to me to see stories written about ‘Why is Detroit a hotspot?’ with all kinds of theories about poverty and people not taking care of their health,” Duggan said Wednesday.

“One of the wealthiest communities in New York, New Rochelle, had the first major outbreak on the East Coast. Middlesex County in Massachusetts — a very well-off county — has a significant outbreak of coronavirus.”

Poorest hit hardest

Although African Americans are likely not inherently more susceptible to getting the virus, many health experts said underlying health issues could make symptoms worse.

“African Americans have historically been more likely to have higher rates of chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer in the United States,” Khaldun said.

“We know that people with these underlying medical conditions are more likely to become severely ill from COVID-19.”

Michigan announced orders closing restaurants and encouraging social distancing in mid-March.

But it didn’t begin advertising its “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order on Detroit television, radio stations and newspapers that serve African-American audiences until March 29.

That was 19 days after the state confirmed its first cases of the coronavirus. By then, Detroit already had more than 1,500 cases.

State radio advertisements about the stay-at-home order in Arabic and Spanish are expected to start this week.

The cause of the delay is unclear but it’s likely because the state was scrambling to respond to the virus, said Brenda Jegede, director of the Office of Equity and Minority Health for Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Others said the message among African Americans has been blunted because churches have closed amid the crisis.

“We don’t have that channel available to us right now,” said Bill Nowling, a spokesman for Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and recently recovered from the coronavirus.

Matthew Seeger, a communications professor at Wayne State University who has worked with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said public health officials must tailor messages to different audiences by using different media.

He said Whitmer, Duggan and Evans have done an “exceptional job” so far.

Even with the messaging, self-isolation and social distancing can be difficult for those who don’t have money or space for three weeks of food or need public transportation, said Linda Smith, executive director of the U-SNAP-BAC housing nonprofit in Detroit.

Many low-income people have jobs without paid sick time, or are uninsured and may be hesitant to seek health care due to costs.

“There’s a truism in epidemiology that the poorest and most marginalized people in any society are always going to get hit hardest by the health challenges that a society faces,” said El-Sayed, the former city health director.

“They’re starting to bear out in the pattern of this disease.”

— Bridge reporters Robin Erb, Louis Aguilar and Kelly House contributed to this article.

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