Nearly half of black Americans (49 percent) say they are very closely following news about the number of U.S. COVID-19 cases and deaths, higher than the 34 percent of white adults who said the same, a new survey shows.
The survey, conducted April 20-26 by the Pew Research Center, polled 10,139 U.S. adults.
The survey shows black adults (55 percent) are more likely than white (36 percent) and Hispanic (43 percent) Americans to follow news about the health impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on people like them very closely. One-fifth of black Americans (26 percent) said that they discussed the coronavirus pandemic with others "almost all the time," compared to 10 percent of white and 19 percent of Hispanic Americans.
Forty-seven percent of black Americans said they were very closely following news about the ability of hospitals across the country to treat patients, versus 31 percent of white and 32 percent of Hispanic Americans.
Nearly half (48 percent) of black adults were very closely following local news about the availability of COVID-19 tests, nearly twice the percentage of white adults (25 percent) who said the same.