When AIDS first struck the black community in the late 1980s, it just started as a strange-sounding disease that only other people were getting. Then suddenly, the virus hit black people with a ferocity that a lot of the victims started dying-alone and separated from their family. Healthcare workers are confused as the virus is unstoppable.
That is how Perneessa Seele, founder and CEO of The Balm in Gilead, Inc., describe the AIDS during that time when she was working as an immunologist at a Harlem hospital.
Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, the same patterns are evident as the virus hit Chicago, New York, Detroit, New Orleans and other places in the United States. For blacks who are more likely to die from HIV/AIDS than any other group in the US, it feels like a double pandemic, as both viruses are hitting at once.
"This coronavirus is treacherous, and it is relentless. It doesn't care if you have HIV. It'll fight with HIV for you -- two viruses for the control of your death," said Seele.
The thought of double pandemic happening to black communities is causing some black activists and health officials to shudder. Although, it is still too early to know how many people with HIV are dying of COVID-19.
This makes COVID-19 even more frightening as it adds one more burden it could be devastating, according to Gregorio Millett, vice-president and director of public policy for amfAR.
It's unhealthy to be black
It seems that when white people catch a cold, black folks get pneumonia; and whenever a disease inflicts America, black America will get a worse disease. That is a folk saying in the black community that reveals a historical pattern.
Black people are more likely than other American groups to have health issues such as diabetes, heart disease and lung disease. Also, they are more likely to live in poverty and have lesser access to health insurance, according to statistics. No wonder why they are more mistrustful of health care providers also.
This explains why 42% of new HIV cases in the United States in 2018 also come from the black community although they only make up 13% of the US population, according to CDC.
Fortunately, people with HIV are living longer because of advances in the treatment and medication. However, many blacks cannot afford those treatments. It is one of the many reasons along with underlying health conditions why many coronavirus victims are black.
In Chicago, 30% of its population is made up of black Americans but makes up 72% of COVID-19 patients who die because of the virus.
Reasons for hope
Compared to HIV/AIDS, there are some reasons for being optimistic about stopping the coronavirus from spreading in the black community.
For example, a stigma is already attached to victims of HIV/AIDS especially during the 1980s. But it is not present with people who are diagnosed with COVID-19.
A lot of people from black communities are contracting coronavirus because most of them hold service jobs as grocery clerks, bus drivers, or nurse aids. Americans today are praising them as they do not have the opportunity to work from home.
More so, a lot of the public health officials who are leading the fight against the pandemic including Dr. Anthony Fauci, are the same people who helped reduce the death toll of AIDS.
