Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Shevin Keedy]

But the mantra for weeks has been to protect the NHS. So far, it seems, its worked.

You are aware I am sure of the number of NHS staff who have died, and the fact others are still crying out desperately for regulation PPE. How has it worked? How is that being protected?

 

[tsubaki]

But why does the skin colour matter?

To break it down, apart from the pigmentation of the skin, what makes a white American different to a black one?

There's no difference. That's my point. So it doesn't matter what colour of the skin is , Americans are being affected and dying irregardless to their skin colour.

It's absolutely racism in its purest form to distinguish a difference .

Not sure what point you are trying to make here; admittedly this is very early on and a lot of the evidence is anecdotal but there really does seem to be a difference in the death rates between racial groups at present, here and in the US.

Income disparity / access to healthcare / social conditions (eg: being concentrated in cities and therefore being more at risk of exposure) and diet might explain it; there might even be something in the virus that does it - we don't know.

 

[Kenshin]

Not sure what point you are trying to make here; admittedly this is very early on and a lot of the evidence is anecdotal but there really does seem to be a difference in the death rates between racial groups at present.

Income disparity / access to healthcare / social conditions (eg: being concentrated in cities and therefore being more at risk of exposure) and diet might explain it; there might even be something in the virus that does it - we don't know.

It's a social issue not a skin colour issue.

Perhaps the virus is affecting areas where housing and access to medical care is of a lower standard. Perhaps it's affecting more populated areas. Perhaps the numbers are high in certain areas because less precautions are being made.

None of the reasons is because of their skin colour yet america is reporting that back. I may be wrong but they are the only country reporting skin colour .

I'd like to think skin colour doesn't matter. That we are all equal. Especially born natives in a country.

 

[tsubaki]

It's a social issue not a skin colour issue.

Perhaps the virus is affecting areas where housing and access to medical care is of a lower standard. Perhaps it's affecting more populated areas. Perhaps the numbers are high in certain areas because less precautions are being made.

None of the reasons is because of their skin colour yet america is reporting that back. I may be wrong but they are the only country reporting skin colour .

I'd like to think skin colour doesn't matter. That we are all equal. Especially born natives in a country.

Yes, but saying "we are all equal" isn't very useful when as you say people weren't equal before this virus turned up and aren't being equally affected by it. A better point of view would be to acknowledge that the disparity exists and make sure that its recognized, then challenged.

 

[RAFUH]

But why does the skin colour matter?

To break it down, apart from the pigmentation of the skin, what makes a white American different to a black one?

There's no difference. That's my point. So it doesn't matter what colour of the skin is , Americans are being affected and dying irregardless to their skin colour.

It's absolutely racism in its purest form to distinguish a difference .

African Americans are being disproportionately harmed by this virus. We should see hospitalizations and deaths by race/ethnicity similar to the make up the population.
We are not. I haven't heard anything similar happening in the UK or EU so it does not seem to be an genetic difference.


If the underlying reason more AA are dying is due to decades of institutional racism (it is), then to ignore it is simply more racism.

If it isn't, we still need to understand why there are differences. Understanding that leads to better understanding of the viral disease process and potentially effective treatments.

 

[Kenshin]

Yes, but saying "we are all equal" isn't very useful when as you say people weren't equal before this virus turned up and aren't being equally affected by it. A better point of view would be to acknowledge that the disparity exists and make sure that its recognized, then challenged.

Yes. But using skin colour to talk about other issues is massively racist to do.

Like I say, what difference does it make?

It's talking about social issues within the country. Why are no other country reporting these figures back? We see daily status from the UK yet not one mention of skin colour in there? We have Europe's highest projected casualty rate but not once have I seen mention to skin colour.

The issue I have with it is a basic social issue that's deeper lying than just a virus, being labelled with skin colour. Skin colour shouldn't matter. An American is an American , when they start being labelled by skin colour then it's , in my opinion, racist.

 

[BlueToff]

I’ve 3 friends getting married later this year. What do people think the chances the weddings can go ahead in the occasional sense?

As soon as they decide to reopen pubs etc, I'd have thought weddings would fall into that category?

I can see gigs/large gatherings being off until July at the earliest (and that's probably very wishful thinking even then) but surely there's little difference between a packed pub and a wedding?

 

[RaleighBlue]

Yes. But using skin colour to talk about other issues is massively racist to do.

Like I say, what difference does it make?

It's talking about social issues within the country. Why are no other country reporting these figures back? We see daily status from the UK yet not one mention of skin colour in there? We have Europe's highest projected casualty rate but not once have I seen mention to skin colour.

The issue I have with it is a basic social issue that's deeper lying than just a virus, being labelled with skin colour. Skin colour shouldn't matter. An American is an American , when they start being labelled by skin colour then it's , in my opinion, racist.

Right, but when it comes to access to services and basic rights, in America, it does.

Which is why it needs to be talked about. So we can try and make it better. Pretending that because it shouldn't matter that it doesn't matter does not help us make it better.

 

[Kenshin]

African Americans are being disproportionately harmed by this virus. We should see hospitalizations and deaths by race/ethnicity similar to the make up the population.
We are not. I haven't heard anything similar happening in the UK or EU so it does not seem to be an genetic difference.


If the underlying reason more AA are dying is due to decades of institutional racism (it is), then to ignore it is simply more racism.

If it isn't, we still need to understand why there are differences. Understanding that leads to better understanding of the viral disease process and potentially effective treatments.

And the issues are down to circumstances. Have those communities in those states got adequete access to health care? Have they got work and financial access on par with other areas? Can they even afford health care? Etc

That part is to do with ethnicity but it's nothing to do with the virus. Those issues would exist with or without a pandemic.

But throwing the virus in with it and then singling out skin colour is a horrible way of presenting the information on my opinion. Highlighting essentially community issues but using the virus effects in those particular areas as skin colour is no different to racially sorting cases.

 

[RAFUH]

It's a social issue not a skin colour issue.

Perhaps the virus is affecting areas where housing and access to medical care is of a lower standard. Perhaps it's affecting more populated areas. Perhaps the numbers are high in certain areas because less precautions are being made.

None of the reasons is because of their skin colour yet america is reporting that back. I may be wrong but they are the only country reporting skin colour .

I'd like to think skin colour doesn't matter. That we are all equal. Especially born natives in a country.

Totally agree, but that is not reality in the US
Obviously legally it is, but how it plays out, is not.

 

[Kenshin]

Right, but when it comes to access to services and basic rights, in America, it does.

Which is why it needs to be talked about. So we can try and make it better. Pretending that because it shouldn't matter that it doesn't matter does not help us make it better.

Absolutely . But saying black people are dying from the virus is neither here nor there when there is a bigger picture.

The issues are deeper than a virus and always existed there. Just reporting it based on skin colour is not highlighting those issues , it's suggesting their skin colour makes them more susceptible to catching the virus.

Which I believe is racist to do. Because the colour of their skin isn't affecting the effects of the virus, but perhaps the area's most affected are the problem with a whole bigger picture.

African Americans suffer from social and financial inequality in the 21st century is a whole different story to more AA are dying from the virus in America.

 

[jamieni]

As soon as they decide to reopen pubs etc, I'd have thought weddings would fall into that category?

I can see gigs/large gatherings being off until July at the earliest (and that's probably very wishful thinking even then) but surely there's little difference between a packed pub and a wedding?

I imagine wedding ceremonies might be back on by July, but wedding receptions might be a different story.

 

[tsubaki]

Absolutely . But saying black people are dying from the virus is neither here nor there when there is a bigger picture.

The issues are deeper than a virus and always existed there. Just reporting it based on skin colour is not highlighting those issues , it's suggesting their skin colour makes them more susceptible to catching the virus.

Which I believe is racist to do. Because the colour of their skin isn't affecting the effects of the virus, but perhaps the area's most affected are the problem with a whole bigger picture.

African Americans suffer from social and financial inequality in the 21st century is a whole different story to more AA are dying from the virus in America.

The problem is that we don't know that it isn't. Social and economic issues are much more likely to blame, but we do not know if the virus has different effects on people based on their genetics (either directly or indirectly via conditions that groups are known to be more susceptible to).

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Saw this in the Washington Post - hmm...

"Two years before the novel Coronavirus pandemic upended the world, U.S. Embassy officials visited a Chinese research facility in the city of Wuhan several times and sent two official warnings back to Washington about inadequate safety at the lab, which was conducting risky studies on coronaviruses from bats."

 

[Tipp blue]

Yes. But using skin colour to talk about other issues is massively racist to do.

Like I say, what difference does it make?

It's talking about social issues within the country. Why are no other country reporting these figures back? We see daily status from the UK yet not one mention of skin colour in there? We have Europe's highest projected casualty rate but not once have I seen mention to skin colour.

The issue I have with it is a basic social issue that's deeper lying than just a virus, being labelled with skin colour. Skin colour shouldn't matter. An American is an American , when they start being labelled by skin colour then it's , in my opinion, racist.

But if this virus is killing a disproportionate number on black people compared to other colors of people then that needs to be looked into, infact saying it's racist to talk about it is counter productive and could lead to less help for a more affected group of people because hey everyone is the same. Perhaps the higher death total for black people in America is due to sickle cell which is exclusive to black people.