COVID-19 Updates, White House Report

Mitch McConnell Blocks Congressional Demand for Coronavirus Data on Race, Ethnicity

April Ryan
April 10, 2020

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Sunnyside Elementary School fourth-grader Miriam Amacker does school work in her room at her family’s home in San Francisco, Thursday, April 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

The calls are louder for every state to offer the numbers on African Americans contracting and dying from coronavirus. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and the Congressional Black Caucus want mandatory reports from every state to include data on race and ethnicity to the Centers for Disease Control. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has blocked the measure.

Communities of color are dealing with deadly #COVID19 outcomes because of structural racism.

Food deserts, redlining, discrimination in health care/housing have all caused increased rates of asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and other COVID risk factors. https://t.co/uCQzUQAGrK
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) April 9, 2020

AURN’s April Ryan speaks with Congresswoman Lee.

Click ▶️ to listen to AURN Washington Bureau Chief April Ryan’s White House Report:

April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House, a position she has held with AURN since the Clinton era. Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her heightened insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation. April has written three books; The Presidency in Black & White: My Close-Up View of Three Presidents and Race in America, At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White, and Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. Twitter: @aprildryan