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Racial disparities due to COVID-19 may be improving

Hospital by capturedbychelsea is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

The state’s task force on reducing the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on communities of color has released its initial report. According to the report, the situation has improved.

The Covid-19 death rate among Black people has dropped dramatically since those dark first two months of the pandemic. At one point, 22 African-Americans per million per day were dying of the disease. A rate four times that of white people.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer credits creative use of 20-million dollars in Cares Act grant money.

“These grants are used for things like addressing food and housing insecurity, increasing access to testing and flu vaccines, improving contact tracing and more,” said Whitmer.

With the pandemic ongoing in the state, Whitmer refused to rule out an extension of current rules prohibiting indoor dining at restaurants and mandates for online-only instruction for high schoolers.