(pleasant mallet percussion music)
- [Narrator] As the number of coronavirus cases
continues to swell in the U.S.,
models project infections
in some of the worst hit American cities,
New York, New Orleans, and Detroit,
are at or near their peak.
- I don't know if we can bend the curve in Detroit.
They failed to do it in New York,
and the loss of life is almost unimaginable.
- We know our hospital systems are so overwhelmed.
Just access to care is not as easy as it was before.
I see a lot of, you know, potential for bad outcomes.
- [Narrator] Virus-related deaths in Wayne County,
where Detroit is, are the highest in the U.S.
outside of New York City and Nassau County,
which is also in New York.
- There is a truism in epidemiology that the people
who suffer the most tend to be the poorest
and the most marginalized in the society,
no matter what the society is,
no matter what the disease is.
- [Narrator] Detroit, a city slow to recover
from the 2008 financial crisis is fighting again,
this time against the coronavirus.
So how is the city responding,
and will Detroit prove more vulnerable to this crisis?
- When you think about an epidemic,
often we always look at the pathogen,
and that's just part of the story.
The other part of the story is the host
and the environment.
- [Narrator] Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is an epidemiologist
who previously served as the Health Director
for the city of Detroit.
He says underlying vulnerabilities in the city
have fueled the increase in Detroit's COVID-19 cases.
- Detroit, unfortunately, in so many circumstances
has been the hardest hit by a number of dynamics
that disproportionately affect low income people
and people of color in our country.
- [Narrator] More than 1/3 of people
in Detroit live in poverty,
and the prevalence of underlying health conditions
such as diabetes, asthma, and heart problems
are much higher there than elsewhere in the country.
- All of those things create a community
that is uniquely vulnerable.
- [Narrator] The outbreak has been particularly fatal
for the state's black residents,
who make up 40% of Michigan's reported deaths
but only 14% of the state's total population.
The city of Detroit, where most of the state's cases are,
is majority black.
(pleasant mallet percussion music)
- Hey, Dr. Asha here.
I'm getting ready to go to the Pope Francis Center.
- [Narrator] Dr. Asha Shajahan
is a family medicine physician
and Medical Director of Community Health
at Beaumont Grosse Point.
- [Asha] Think I'm good.
- [Narrator] She's been treating COVID patients
via telemedicine and volunteers three days a week
at the Pope Francis Center,
a homeless service provider in Detroit.
- [Asha] About to get started with my day.
- [Narrator] Some homeless service providers in Detroit
have been forced to close or reduce services
to adhere to government guidelines.
- Think about all the things
that we're telling people to do at home, stay at home.
They don't have a home to stay in.
Wash you hands, where are they gonna have access
to wash their hands with soap, you know, for 20 seconds?
You're feeling better now, right?
- [Narrator] Dr. Shajahan screens patients
for COVID-like symptoms, and if necessary,
refers them to a city facility where they can isolate
and receive further medical attention.
- [Asha] We need to take care of everybody,
and if patients don't have the ability
to get screened, then they're potentially spreading it
to others and putting themselves at risk.
- [Narrator] The Pope Francis Center
has shifted operations outdoors so that guests have access
to water, soap, and medical attention
while socially distancing.
- We have hand washing stations available for the patients.
We know that poverty and health go hand in hand.
Many of the patients that I see,
they already have asthma, they already have COPD,
they already have mental health issues,
so having the anxiety of COVID
in addition to everything else that's going on
puts them at higher risk.
- [Narrator] Mayor Mike Duggan has pushed back
on the idea that the city's poverty
contributed to it being a hot spot.
- I spoke to Dr. Mark Zurvos this morning
who was also deeply disturbed by this coverage,
and he said, there is no evidence
that the coronavirus checks your bank account.
- I do agree that the coronavirus
doesn't look at people's pockets,
but I do think there are people
that are at higher risk of contracting the virus
because of their comorbidities.
It's not only just the elderly,
but it's also people that, you know,
are at higher risk because of their social circumstances.
- [Narrator] As Detroit residents
worry about staying healthy,
the impact this coronavirus will have on the city's economy
is still unclear.
For a city that has seen an economic crisis before,
some fear the effects will be felt
long after this public health crisis is over.
- Unfortunately, this is sort of a sucker punch
that comes right at a moment where folks felt like
the worst was behind us, and it's hard to see.
- [Asha] We're hoping everyone's doing good, staying safe.
We'll be back on Monday. (dramatic bell tones)