COVID-19 disproportionally affecting African Americans

ORLANDO, Fla. - According to early data from several states, COVID-19 is killing African Americans at a disproportionately high rate.

The White House acknowledged those numbers. Dr. Fauci said pre-existing conditions play a role.

"We've known that diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obeisty and asthma are disproportionately afflicting the minority populations," he said.

Florida data shows that similar to other states, the black population also has a slightly higher mortality rate. Florida's black population is about 17%, but they make up 18% of the COVID-19 deaths.

That disparity may be even higher when considering lack of access to testing for those communities. Dr. Jason Littleton, founder of Littleton Concierge Medicine in Orlando, said this may mean we need to direct better care to those demographics.

"If we help target the at-risk populations, we can help flatten the curve, and that's key. We have to do that," he said. "If we ignore a population that's getting hit harder, that can lead to secondary infections."

Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill is hard at work to make sure the black population in Orlando knows the risks associated with COVID-19. She is working with ONYX magazine to create educational flyers and door hangers that will be distributed to the community. She is also using social media to get the message out. We've ordered 3,000 door hanges, and we've ordered 500 posters to strategically work with our faith-based community, and our corner stores" she said.

Commissioner Hill points out there areon the west side of Orlando, where there is a big African American population. She hopes to see testing sites in the area soon, citing transportation issues.

"They are testing over at the convention center, but many of our seniors and those thate vulnerable couldn't get to the convention center, nor could we get over to the east side [testing center] over at UCF."