New Data Show COVID-19 Impact On African-American Community, State’s Revenues

By Victoria Ratliff
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—One in five people who have died from the novel coronavirus in Indiana were African Americans, who represent less than 10% of the state’s population, new data from the Indiana State Department of Health show.

Dr. Kristina Box, ISDH Commissioner, unveiled the new data Friday at Gov. Eric Holcomb’s daily virtual press briefing.

“I expected the number of African American deaths to be a higher percentage than the number of African Americans represented in our state population overall,” Box said. “And that’s because that’s what every other state is seeing, and that’s because they have higher incidents like I mentioned of co-morbidities that are more likely to contribute to death from COVID-19 like heart disease and diabetes.”

Dr. Woody Myers, the former state health commissioner and Democratic candidate for governor, said in a statement that this data shouldn’t have taken this long to be released.

“The state has lagged behind many others in the release of this valuable data. It simply should not have taken this long to inform the public and medical community about who is most at risk for coronavirus. Hoosiers need to know this information as a matter of safety,” he said.

He said while we now know some of the initial figures, there is still more data that needs to be shown.

“The reality is that minority and low-income communities will likely bear the brunt of this disease, both in terms of health and economics. The question we ought to be asking now is: ‘What will state leaders do about it?’,” he said.

Friday, Indiana saw 55 new deaths related to COVID-19, raising the state’s total to 300. There were also 556 new cases reported, with a total of 6,907 cases in Indiana.

Box said tracking the data in real-time is difficult. She said with normal illnesses, like the flu, the numbers would be released on a weekly basis to keep them as accurate as possible. With this virus, she said, there is a need for numbers to be updated daily, but they might not be completely accurate.

She said the data is re-examined to ensure cases are not counted for twice, and double-checked accuracy. But, this normally takes longer than the 24-hour period between when new numbers are reported and might cause a slight change is the number of cases reported in the state.

Friday was a day when state officials delivered a lot of bad news, with data showing the pandemic has yet to reach its peak either in the number of cases or in the damage to the economy.

The state’s monthly revenue report showed March revenues were $70 million lower than projected.  And, these numbers don’t take into account the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus shutting down most commerce for the month

Cris Johnston, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the state’s casinos were closed for only a week of the reporting period. The report shows that wagering revenues were down $4 million or 33% from the estimated revenue.

Johnston said the state is working to bring economic relief to not only the state as a whole but local governments and Hoosiers. He said there have been three packages approved by the federal government aimed to economically help states

One was directed for public health and buying personal protective equipment for medical workers and a second was directed to providing assistance to individuals on food, women and children programs, and services. The final, he said, is expected to bring more than $3 billion to the state to help fund existing grant programs.

“While it is a sizeable amount of money, we also cannot build expectations beyond this funding, that we cannot fulfill,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will begin distributing $668 million in relief funds to Indiana hospitals and medical providers from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump.

“Our health care systems and medical professionals are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic,” Sen. Todd Young said in a statement. “The funding being distributed today will help provide them with critical relief to treat Hoosier patients now and in the future.”

The state will have a task force in place to plan, administer, and account for federal aid the state will receive through the CARES Act.

Indiana’s Economic Relief and Recovery Team will be chaired by Johnston and Commerce Secretary Jim Schellinger. It will also consist of former state Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, Ryan Kitchell, the former Office of Management and Budget director, and Becky Skillman, former lieutenant governor, among others.

The month of April, Johnston said, is typically one of the highest-grossing months of the year, although this year it doesn’t look like it will be. That is when the budget is expected to show the biggest impact of the pandemic.

Box said although it seems there is more and more bad news every day, there are also positive things happening. She said chalk drawings on her driveway and notes of encouragement have uplifted her during this time.

“It’s hard when we have this many people dying to be real positive,” Box said as she choked back tears. “But I know that we are going to do everything, and we are doing everything that we can to dampen the number of lives that we lose in the state of Indiana.  And I know we have a great Hoosier population that is doing a lot to take care of each other.”

FOOTNOTES: Victoria Ratliff is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.