Milwaukee Health Department officials say they are going to compare local COVID-19 case numbers with other areas to look for patterns. During an online news conference Wednesday, elected officials like Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Milwaukee brought up concerns with the recent trend in the city. "Very disturbed to see that we have seen such a prevalence of COVID 19 virus here on the north side of Milwaukee," said Moore.
State Representative David Bowen, who himself was diagnosed with COVID-19, said: "We are seeing a concentration of the virus on the north side of the city, especially among black men." Bowen is quarantined at home and recovering from the virus.
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Milwaukee Health Commissioner Jeanette Kowalik said more needs to be known about those who have contracted the virus. "Did this person have diabetes, did this person have heart disease in addition to COVID-19?" said Kowalik of those with the virus.
The health department revealed that when they crunched the numbers in the last 24 hours when the number of cases in the county was 248, 130 or 52 percent are African Americans. And of the total cases, 52% are women, 48% are men. Of that number of men, approximately 62% are African American.
Kowalik says the data from here in Milwaukee will be compared to other cities like Detroit, Baltimore, and Nashville.