Coronavirus impact on black Fulton residents ‘pretty dramatic’
Health officials urge East Pointers to stay vigilant in fighting COVID-19
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Fulton County is expanding coronavirus testing, but health officials warned East Point residents to continue taking precautions as the virus is hitting black communities the hardest.
County health officials pointed to sobering statistics and anecdotal evidence showing that the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating healthcare and socioeconomic disparities faced by people of color. And in East Point – a city in which more than 75 percent of its nearly 35,000 residents are black – that could be deadly.
“People of color and particularly black people are overrepresented in the number of COVID-19 cases,” said Dr. Sandra Elizabeth Ford (photo), interim director of the Fulton County Board of Health.
“What we are seeing is an overabundance and it’s pretty dramatic,” Ford said, adding that black people are infected with coronavirus and dying at higher rates than other races.
The warning came during “COVID-19: Bridging the Gaps,” a virtual town hall on Thursday hosted by Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham. Panelists included Ford and other health officials, Fulton Commissioner Joe Carn and non-profit leaders with outreach efforts assisting East Point residents.
Georgia health officials have only recently started tracking coronavirus cases by race, Ford said. What they’ve seen so far is startling.
On Wednesday, Fulton had a total of 1,838 confirmed cases. Not all of those cases included racial demographics but of the ones that do, 56 percent were among African-Americans, Ford said. Some 19 percent were among whites, 3 percent among Asians and 2 percent among Hispanics.
Ford said the pandemic is highlighting the long-standing problems of access to healthcare and other economic factors faced by black people.
“This is not a medical issue 100 percent. We did not just discover this last week,” she said.
“If you have to decide between shelter in place and feeding your family, you are going to feed your family. If you don’t have the type of job that provides you the luxury of sheltering in place, you have to go work,” Ford added.
Those disparities heighten the concerns of city officials as they work to blunt the impact of coronavirus in East Point, Ingraham said.
“The health disparities didn’t come about with COVID. This an example, a great example, of the health disparities in our country,” Ingraham said.
“A lot of lives are being lost. A lot of loved ones are gone. We are here still trying to make sure that we are doing all that we can to put the safety, welfare and health of our residents first,” she added.
Fulton expands free testing
Ford said the county has expanded its testing, which will help ensure resources are deployed in areas that need them most. The county is adding testing sites and expanding the criteria for who can be tested. Results are also being returned more quickly, she said.
Anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 – fever, tiredness and a dry cough – is now eligible for a free test. Earlier testing was limited to first responders, healthcare workers and people with referrals from physicians.
Testing sites are being expanded in south Fulton and hours for the county’s call center are being expanded to 7 p.m. Testing sites will also soon be open on Saturdays, Ford said. People seeking tests have to call the county hotline – 404-613-8150 – to schedule an appointment.
“Testing has been a challenge from day one. That issue has been addressed,” Ford said.
East Point’s only hospital – WellStar Atlanta Medical Center South – is also increasing testing capacity and recently started using rapid tests to detect coronavirus. The hospital receives 200 to 300 testing kits per week, according to Dr. Sulieman Wazeerud (second photo), the center’s medical director.
The hospital has also moved nurses outdoors to tents and the ambulance bay to triage patients as they arrive to keep coronavirus cases separated from other areas of the hospital. Wazeerud told East Point City Council members on April 6 that the facility is ready for a surge of coronavirus cases.
“This is unlike anything we’ve seen before. People are just dropping and dying,” Wazeerud said during the town hall on Thursday.
And that’s why health officials are urging people to continue distancing themselves from others, wearing masks and gloves in public and washing their hands. Ford said she continues to see examples of people in the county not taking precautions – even as Fulton leads the state in confirmed coronavirus cases.
“To still see people out barbecuing for Easter like it’s a regular Sunday, it makes me shake my head,” Ford said. “People are dropping very dramatically and I don’t understand why people aren’t heeding the warnings.”
Wazeerud said even a negative test result isn’t a reason to take risks when it comes to COVID-19.
“Testing is not an absolute. Just because you’re negative doesn’t mean you need to stop doing things to help the whole of humanity,” Wazeerud said.
Check out more coverage of how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting East Point.