ABC’s “This Week” focused on Baltimore as it highlighted concerns about racial disparities in the coronavirus pandemic, with state Del. Nick Mosby repeating concerns he has raised about the virus’ impact on black residents.
After he repeated a call for coronavirus case data to be released by ZIP code, Gov. Larry Hogan told anchor Martha Raddatz that information would be posted on a state website Sunday or Monday.
“Everybody is fighting to save every life we can,” Hogan said.
The zip code data was released in a tweet from the governor’s communication staff. According to state figures, the 21215 zip code, which covers parts of northwest Baltimore, had the highest concentration of known cases at 137.
Maryland this week for the first time reported data on COVID-19 cases by race, and it showed that black people account for almost half of the state’s cases, and 53% of coronavirus deaths, though they make up less than a third of its total population. And Baltimore began gathering its data by ZIP code, confirming that neighborhoods in its northwest corridor are being hardest hit by the virus.
Raddatz interviewed Mosby about his concerns outside his West Baltimore home. He raised concern about workers at grocery stores and other essential businesses, many of whom are unable to maintain social distance because they rely on public transportation to get to work.
“Everyone’s relying on them,” the Democratic lawmaker said. “What are we doing to protect them?”
Raddatz then interviewed Hogan live from Annapolis, and the Republican called the disparities “disturbing.” He said most of the state and federal resources marshaled to combat the coronavirus are being used in the Baltimore/Washington corridor, where most of those black residents live.
“It’s definitely where the attention of the entire state and local governments are focused,” he said.
And in response to Mosby’s call for statewide ZIP code-level data on coronavirus cases, Raddatz asked Hogan if that information was coming.
Hogan said it had been gathered manually, just as the racial data had, and that it would be shared soon. As of 10 a.m. Sunday, the data was posted on Twitter, but not on the state’s coronavirus dashboard.