Houston lawmaker pushes Gov. Abbott to look into coronavirus impacts on black Texans

Vials with samples taken for the new coronavirus are counted before they are prepared for RNA testing at the molecular pathology lab at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Thursday, April 2, 2020. The test is identical to the PCR test being used by the Centers for Disease Control to ease the testing crisis and stop the spread of COVID-19, which has hit the New Orleans area especially hard. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Gerald Herbert, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

State Rep. Shawn Thierry wants Gov. Greg Abbott to form a task force to look at the coronavirus pandemic’s potentially inequitable impact on black Texans, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Last week, The Texas Tribune reported that an emerging national picture shows black Americans are disproportionately getting sick and dying from COVID-19, but sparse data has been collected in Texas to determine if the same trend is playing out in the state’s black and Hispanic communities.

Recommended Videos



Data reported last week by the Texas Medical Center showed that African Americans make up a majority of the coronavirus deaths being reported in Houston.

“I certainly hope that he will be very receptive to this issue,” Thierry, a Houston Democrat told The News. “By looking at the group that is the most affected and eradicating [the virus] in our communities is helping everyone.”


Recommended Videos