The coronavirus pandemic has disproportionately impacted minority communities across the U.S.

The CDC has yet to show a full breakdown of coronavirus cases by race and ethnicity, but a May 2020 study has shown that majority-black counties are three times more likely to have coronavirus cases and almost six times the death rate as white-majority counties. This includes both rural and urban areas.

The South is particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)View photos
The South is particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)
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The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on Wednesday to address this issue and allowed leaders in these communities to air their concerns.

Dr. James Hildreth, the president and CEO of Meharry Medical College, said that Congress needs to “act now” and ensure that aid for minorities is included in the next stimulus package.

“Too many have already died,” he said. “More are dying as we sit here, in this moment, talking and not acting. Many more will die tomorrow if we delay.”

ORLANDO, UNITED STATES - MAY 07, 2020: Women wearing protective masks wait in a queue to receive food assistance provided by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida at a food distribution event staffed by volunteers at the Calvario City Church. Food banks across the United States are being overwhelmed due to the thousands of people who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.- PHOTOGRAPH BY Paul Hennessy / Echoes Wire/ Barcroft Studios / Future Publishing (Photo credit should read Paul Hennessy / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)View photos
Women wearing protective masks wait in a queue to receive food assistance provided by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida (Photo by Paul Hennessy / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
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‘We must be well-armed’
Dr. Hildreth proposed the establishment of the Consortium of Black Medical Schools (CBMS), which would consist of Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew Medical School, all historically black institutions.

The CBMS would increase and expand rapid testing and contact tracing in predominantly low-income, minority communities, provide social distancing opportunities for vulnerable populations, and help these communities prepare for a potential second wave of the virus.

According to the APM Research Lab, which is compiling data from Washington, D.C. and 40 states that have provided coronavirus data regarding race and ethnicity, the COVID-19 mortality rate for blacks is 2.4 times the rate as whites and 2.2 times as high as the rate for Asian and Latino Americans.

KING CITY, CA - APRIL 28: Migrant farm laborers with Fresh Harvest working with an H-2A visa have their temperature checked and are asked questions about their health before boarding the bus to their shift, in the company living quarters on April 28, 2020 in King City, California. Good accommodations for farm labor is vital but difficult during the coronavirus pandemic. Fresh Harvest houses over 300 laborers in their self-contained King City facility. The laborers are given masks and gloves, and practice social distancing while inside. If anyone experiences health irregularities, they are immediately isolated in different housing and monitored at least twice a day. Medical care from the county is available if further symptoms develop. Accommodations are expensive and difficult to procure for farm labor. Many growers and packers use motels, houses that they purchase and warehouse-style housing. Fresh Harvest is the one of the largest employers of people using the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa for labor, harvesting and staffing in the United States. The company is implementing strict health and safety initiatives for their workers during the coronavirus pandemic and are trying a number of new techniques to enhance safety in the field as well as in work accommodations. Employees have their temperature taken daily and are also asked a series of questions about how they feel. Despite current record unemployment rates in the U.S. due to COVID-19-related layoffs, there have been few applications to do this kind of work despite extensive mandatory advertising by companies such as Fresh Harvest. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)View photos
Migrant farm laborers working with an H-2A visa have their temperature checked and are asked questions about their health before boarding the bus to their shift on April 28, 2020 in King City, California. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images)
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Those disparities deepen in particular states, like Michigan, Kansas, Wisconsin, and D.C., where five to seven black people die from COVID-19 for every white person that dies from it.

“Let us take our place in this fight,” Hildreth said. “We already are well-prepared and well-trained. But we must be well-armed. Please arm us.”

Hildreth’s plan would cost $5 billion over the next five years, which he described as “a sliver of the total stimulus package — 1% of 1%.”

“This financial support is necessary to establish and implement the care strategies we have clearly articulated for saving African Americans and other disenfranchised lives, to recruit and train staff to conduct health education about the possibility of a resurge of COVID-19, and financially supporting low-resourced African American and other minority families to become healthier and be better prepared for future pandemics,” Hildreth said.