[Sciutto:] Well, this disturbing trend line in the story, we're learning about the devastating and disproportionate effect the coronavirus is having on African-Americans.
[Harlow:] CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta took a look at the disproportionate impact of the virus, what can possibly be done, he joins us now. Sanjay, I'm so glad you spent a lot of time looking into this. What did you find?
[Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] Thanks, Poppy, yes. You know, I think for a lot of people who heard these numbers start to come out that showed this disproportionate impact on African- Americans, there were two things that really jumped out. One is that it's tragic. But for many public health officials, not that surprising. And a lot of people immediately thought, is this because of these underlying conditions, diabetes, heart disease, that we know can make people more vulnerable to COVID-19? Well, it turns out that's only part of the story, as we learned.
[Gupta:] In the beginning, COVID-19 was far away and it didn't even have a name.
[Dr. Camara Jones, Former President, American Public Health Association:] It was coming over to our shores from people who had traveled.
[Gupta:] But once it got a foothold in the United States, its true self was revealed.
[C. Jones:] Once people got infected, because of their diabetes and heart disease and the like, they would get it more severely and be at higher risk of dying.
[Gupta:] Dr. Camara Jones is past president of the American Public Health Association. I was really struck, Dr. Jones, we're both doctors. And as I was hearing the story, it sounded just all of a sudden tragically familiar. Is this a familiar story?
[C. Jones:] What we see is so familiar because the conditions of our lives haven't changed, significantly. And so what's happening is that we are carrying the burden of these limited opportunities in our bodies, and it shows up as diabetes, the heart disease, the hypertension, even in terms of immune compromised and all of that.
[Gupta:] Already, we are hearing from some officials that blacks have been disproportionately hit by the outbreak. Early data shows that in Michigan, where I grew up, 14 percent of the population is black, though they make up 41 percent of coronavirus deaths. In Illinois, 15 percent identify as African-American, but they make up 42 percent of deaths. Louisiana's population is 32 percent black, which accounts for about 70 percent of coronavirus deaths. But here's the problem according to Dr. Jones. As inadequate as testing has been for the country, the problem is even worse for African-Americans.
[C. Jones:] Our whole national testing strategy has started out as a clinical strategy, not a public health strategy. That, of course, has disadvantaged the whole nation in terms of knowing who is infected. And I am told also that it has been harder for many people of color to get the test just because of where testing stations have been located.
[Gupta:] While blacks are less likely to be tested, less likely to be treated, they are more likely to be on the front line, essential workers upon whom we all depend.
[Jason Hargrove Detroit Bus Driver:] We out here as public workers doing our job, trying to make an honest living to take care of our families.
[Gupta:] Detroit bus driver Jason Hargrove posted this online on March 21st.
[C. Jones:] It is not as easy for them to shelter in place. And it's not as easy because I might front-facing jobs like home health aides or bus drivers or postal workers or working at Amazon and the like.
[Hargrove:] For you to get on the bus and stand on the bus and cough several times without covering up your mouth, and you know that we're in the middle of a pandemic, that lets me know that some folks don't care.
[Gupta:] Four days later, Hargrove, who was 50 years old, became ill. He died last Wednesday. It's still unclear how he got COVID-19. And I can tell you, obviously, we need to have better data. Even some of the data you just saw there was pretty challenging to come by. So states need to be reporting at demographic data as well. But you hear the story of Mr. Hargrove there, and you realize that hopefully we don't get to the point in this country where there may be a rationing of resources. We hopefully won't get there. But if there is, some of these same structural inequalities may manifest there as well. And I think that's the point Dr. Jones was really trying to make and hope we can avoid.
[Sciutto:] So sad to hear he lost his live. He gave such a prescient account there. So how, I imagine folks watching now have this question, how do you get more data? And who is standing in the way?
[Gupta:] Well, you know, I think part of this is that the states you know, there's been inadequate testing throughout the country. I think everyone has sort of recognized that at this point. But now, we're at the point where even the testing that we are getting has not been stratified into good demographic data. Even by age, you know, you're starting to get better looks at the young who are getting sick, but certainly not by race. And you know, you have a few states that are starting to do it. And you have senators, like Elizabeth Warren, I believe, Kamala Harris as well, who are now calling upon states to do this, writing a letter to the secretary of health, Alex Azar, saying this is going to be important as we go forward, not only for this pandemic, but also to hopefully not to just look at that data and put it in a drawer at the end of all this but to actually have some lessons for other health crises that come forward. Again, these are, in some ways, the structural inequalities Dr. Jones really felt passionate about this, have been there for long time, but then a pandemic like this comes along and really exposes it. So if we don't get the demographic data, we won't have the lessons learned.
[Harlow:] Yes. And as of this morning, I believe, Sanjay, that letter from a number of senators to HHS, we haven't been able to get an answer from HHS in terms of what they're going to do on this front or releasing this data. Can I just ask you about there is a lot of concern and dismay that I have been reading from those who hear some folks say, well, why is this happening? We don't know why this is happening because so much of this we do know, right, as you laid out in your piece. We do know that the inequality is just being exacerbated here.
[Gupta:] Yes. I think that's right. And I think, you know, again, a point that Dr. Jones makes is, look, there is underlying illness that is at higher rates, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, but why is that? Why do African-Americans, why do black Americans in this country have higher rates of those diseases? Well, in large part, that is also because of structural inequalities, lack of access to good food, living in food deserts, lack of access to healthcare for preventative medicine, whatever that might be. There are many, many layers to this. But I think the thing that I was most struck by and why we decided to focus on this in the piece is that we're in the midst of a time right now where people are being asked to stay at home. And we know for a lot of people, that is really not an option. They can't do it financially or because of the nature of their jobs, food delivery, you know, frontline workers, essential workers, things that we are all dependent on that maybe we don't even realize, and that proportion of those people who are doing those jobs is black America. And so that's also putting them more at risk. So harder to get tested, harder to get treated, concerns about rationing of care, and the most vulnerable because of that frontline status.
[Harlow:] Yes, it's an American tragedy. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much. Be sure to join Sanjay tonight. He will be with Anderson Cooper for a new global CNN town hall. They'll also be joined by special guest, NBA legend Magic Johnson. That's tomorrow night starting at 8:00 Eastern only right here on
[Cnn. Sciutto:] Well, across the nation, photographers, they have been out in the community. They have been documenting life during the coronavirus pandemic. They really put an emotional face on this, a personal one. We're going to bring you their stories and perspective next.