KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says more work needs to be done to understand why the coronavirus has disproportionately impacted black communities.
“There’s a lot more research to be done on why it’s attacking certain portions of the African American community,” Parson said in an interview with 41 Action News anchor Taylor Hemness on Wednesday. “We know that now.”
Parson said the state has launched five mobile testing sites in the St. Louis area, along with additional resources there.
At first, the state had to use a “blanket” approach to fighting the coronavirus, he said, but more established data has allowed Missouri to determine where those resources can be used most effectively.
“Now we’re able to really isolate where to put our resources, where to do our testing, where do we put those sites, and where do we get the most opportunity to be able to combat the virus?” Parson said. “We’re starting to develop that now to see that across the state, and that’s going to be helpful to get those resources up there and get that testing done, especially in African American communities.”
Data from the Kansas City, Missouri, Health Department has shown the city’s third district, where 65 to 75 percent of residents are African American, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases.
The governor said that while St. Louis remains the “extreme hot spot” in Missouri, officials also are paying close attention to the Kansas City region.
“There are some good signs across the state where things are starting to stabilize a little bit, but the St. Louis region is still a concern, the Kansas City area — just because of the municipality, the urban portion of it, we watch that closely every day,” Parson said.
Parson said he believes those portions of the state hit harder by the virus may not be able to reopen as quickly as others.
