There was real talk about the COVID-19 pandemic as it is playing out in the St. Louis region at the opening of a new testing site in North County on Tuesday, April 21.
Michael McMillan, president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, said testing needs to be freely available in the communities hit hardest by the pandemic.
“African Americans are dying from this disease at exponentially higher rates in North St. Louis and North St. Louis County,” McMillan said.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said that the county would be administering $175 million in federal COVIC-19 relief funds. He reminded the public and media that he had asked the County Council to route the bulk of those funds to the communities hit hardest.
The County Council considered the matter Tuesday evening, but Republican council members blocked it.
“It should be not an equal but an equitable distribution,” Page said.
Equitable means that resources are distributing according to need, rather than evenly without regard to need. The racial disparities in COVID-19 impact in the region referenced by McMillan and Page are undeniable.
Though blacks form only 24.9% of St. Louis County’s population, the death rate for COVID-19 for blacks is more than three times that of whites, according to the county health department.
In the City of St. Louis, the story is similar. Of the 908 COVID-19 cases reported in the city as of April 21, 615 (or 67.7 percent) were black, while only 45.9 percent of the city’s population is black. The first 13 deaths from COVID-19 in the city were black people, who still account for more than 70 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the city.
“African Americans continue to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19,” Dr. Fredrick Echols, St. Louis health director, told The American. Echols attended the Urban League testing site opening and was recognized from the podium by McMillan.
A spokesman for St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said she remains “committed to ensuring that any additional investments for COVID-19 response and relief are spent equitably across the city, to include communities disproportionately affected by the crisis,” with socioeconomic and health disparities being the first priority.
Statewide, 29% of positive COVID-19 cases and 37 percent of related deaths were black people as of April 21, according to the state health department, though blacks form only 11.8% of the state’s population.
Jennings Mayor Yolanda Austin said that County Executive Page had told her personally that he is fighting to secure a proportionate amount of funding for hardest-hit areas in North County –and that she planned to hold him accountable.
Austin said her constituents were eager to get tested for the disease and to see their family members tested. She said many are concerned about elders living in senior homes.
Affinia Healthcare opened its site at the Urban League center at 8960 Jennings Station Rd. in Jennings at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Though testing is free, a screening must be completed and an appointment made.
Dr. Alan Freeman, Affinia president and CEO, said it was a privilege to partner with the Urban League to test in a Zip code, 63136, with a high concentration of COVID-19 cases.
Affinia has been testing in North St. Louis on Biddle Street. Freeman said of the 580 people tested as of April 21, 13 to 14 percent had tested positive.
These officials spoke publicly on a day that an armed movement opposing public health orders for social distancing had actions planned in the state capital and county seat. This armed movement was encouraged by President Donald Trump in a series of tweets on Friday, April 17. In defiance of his own federal public health orders, Trump encouraged a series of states to “liberate” themselves – apparently, from public health orders.
Regional public and health officials all spoke plainly at the Urban League event about being in the middle of a response process that continues to require social distancing to slow the spread of the virus. Protective masks were announced as required to attend the outdoors public event; though mostly observed, it was not enforced.
“We need to keep ourselves socially distanced,” McMillan said. “We need to keep this from impacting more people in the community.”
Page said he wanted to see people healthy and back to work, but public health was a priority and containing an infectious disease takes time.
“We will get through this,” Page said, “but it’s going to take a while to get where we need to be.”
For screening and appointments for COVID-19 tests by Affinia, call 314-833-2777.
