Less politics, more facts

In your story of Thursday, June 4 (“Virus has hit minority groups harder”), where you correctly observe the COVID virus hits minority groups harder than the general population, you quote Spokane County Health Officer Bob Lutz saying: “Longstanding societal and institutional policies and practices that lead to health inequalities, differences in health status between social groups that are unfair, avoidable and preventable lead to what is referred to as embodied inequality, discrimination and social injustice that lead to poor health outcomes that are multigenerational.

I wish Lutz’s comment was less political and more medically factual. There are scientifically acknowledged differences among ethnic races that make the COVID virus worse by not only age, but by ethnicity. For example, African Americans have unfortunate above-average incidences of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes as compared to other ethnic groups.

Additionally, anyone with a smattering of common sense can admit there are also gender health differences between men and women and for me to claim one gender may have a higher preponderance for certain maladies than the other gender shouldn’t be dismissed as sexist hate speech. Come on Lutz, please interject some occasional medical facts into your social political opinions. I also grow really tired of Shawn Vestal’s stern lectures full of political anger and hope you don’t follow suit.

Ken Hills

Spokane