At Least 848 African Americans in the State of Illinois have COVID-19

Chicago, IL — The coronavirus has reportedly infected at least 848 African Americans in the state of Illinois, sadly making this demographic the second-highest ethnic group infected with the virus in the state. It further disproves earlier misconceptions that Blacks are immune from the virus because of their genetic structure.

According to the figures released by the Illinois Department of Public Health on March 27, out of the 3,026 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Illinois last week, Black patients comprised 28 percent. White patients with 1,180 cases make up 39 percent of all the cases during the same time period.

Asians comprised 4 percent with 121 cases, 9 percent included other races, and 20 percent were unidentified. There are no available figures on the number of COVID-19 deaths by race.

As of the latest report, there have been 157 COVID-19 related deaths and known cases increased to 7,695 statewide.

At least 12 of those cases were from Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown’s office. Brown said that among her 1,400 employees, 12 tested positive for the coronavirus and 8 of them are Black.

“We have to be careful. This thing is very serious, and we have to take it more seriously,” Brown said, noting that the affected employees were sent home and the areas were disinfected.

Moreover, many people thought that Black people could not get the virus when it started spreading to the U.S. from China and Italy. But the recent increasing cases and death toll related to the coronavirus in the Black community shows that it is not true.

In fact, Blacks are considered one of the most vulnerable groups to the coronavirus due to the underlying health conditions that commonly afflicted Black people. There is even an increasing number of deaths of Blacks with no underlying health conditions.