Mississippi health official links rise in white virus cases over Black cases to mask views

At the outset of the pandemic, more African Americans in Mississippi were being infected and killed by coronavirus than white people, a disparity that medical experts blamed on racial health disparities. Initially, Black Mississippians made up approximately 60% of the state’s cases and deaths, according to the state health department. In roughly the past month, white people have surpassed Black people in the overall reported COVID-19 death toll for the first time since the state health department started publishing data by race in June, according to CNN.