According to a new study, life expectancy among whites in the U.S. exceeds the life expectancy of Blacks in any given year, even during the pandemic.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, examined national life expectancy data and demographic models to estimate how many white deaths from Covid-19 would be needed for the white death rate in 2020 to reach the levels of the year with the lowest Black death rate ever recorded, which was in 2014.
The study concludes that the coronavirus would need to kill an additional 1 million White Americans for their average life expectancy to fall to levels seen by Black Americans during non-pandemic years.
“These estimates make it plausible that, even in the Covid-19 pandemic, White mortality will remain lower than the lowest recorded Black mortality in the United States,” Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, researcher at the University of Minnesota, wrote. “In reality, COVID-19 deaths themselves are highly disproportionately experienced by Black Americans and will almost certainly further widen the racial mortality gap.”
“If Black disadvantage operates every year on the scale of Whites’ experience of COVID-19, then so too should the tools we deploy to fight it,” she added.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC
New coronavirus cases in several states are decreasing, but some health officials across the country’s heartland are concerned about rising infection rates. [READ MORE]
In Kansas, the seven-day average for new daily cases was 561 Monday, up from about 100 in mid-June, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The number is expected to rise as colleges open their doors to students over the next few weeks.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear warned of another spike in cases as the state reported the largest number of deaths since the pandemic began.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield is also expressing concern about the rise in cases in states in middle America, while other parts of the country are reporting improvements.
A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina have found that covering your nose when wearing a mask may be just as important as covering your mouth to protect yourself from contracting coronavirus.
Research concludes that cells that line the nose are significantly more likely to become infected and spread virus than the throat or lungs.
The findings stress the importance of wearing a mask correctly, covering both the nose and the mouth simultaneously.
Leaders at The Ohio State University have temporarily suspended 228 students for violating pandemic guidelines before classes are set to begin on Tuesday.
Students at the school located in Columbus were told they must wear masks, practice physical distancing and refrain from gathering in groups of more than 10 people. Student organizations were also warned that hosting large gatherings could result in the loss of their university recognition and funding.
As students return to campuses nationwide, at least 24 states are reporting positive cases of Covid-19 at colleges and universities.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning against the implementation of early emergency use authorization for a potential coronavirus vaccine, arguing that doing so could damage efforts to develop other vaccines.
Fauci’s comments come after the Trump administration’s announcement of an emergency authorization for the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19. The treatment, which takes antibody-rich blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients and injects it into current patients, has shown some promise but questions remain about its effectiveness.
“One of the potential dangers if you prematurely let a vaccine out is that it would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the other vaccines to enroll people in their trial,” Fauci said during an interview with Reuters.
Teachers in Florida fearful of returning to the classroom in the fall were handed a victory by state courts on Monday. Florida Circuit Judge Charles Dodson has blocked Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to begin in-person instruction in the state’s schools, declaring that the state “essentially ignored the requirement for school safety” by insisting that teachers resume in-person education.
“The districts have no meaningful alternative,” Dodson said in his ruling. “If an individual school district chooses safety, that is, delaying the start of schools until it individually determines it is safe to do for its county, it risks losing state funding, even though every student is being taught.”
On July 6, the Florida Education Department issued an order overriding local school boards’ rights to operate their own schools, the judge concluded.
Bolt said he was asymptomatic but would self-quarantine to “be responsible.”
