There are multiple reports circulating online – especially on social media – which suggest that Black people possess some special immunity to the coronavirus. According to one viral report, which MTO News will not re-post because it has not been verified, people with an African bloodline in their family history, have special antibodies that help them fight off the coronavirus.
So far, there has been no independent study that confirms that Black people are either immune, or are more resistant to the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that anyone (regardless of race) who comes into close contact with someone infected with the coronavirus is at risk for contracting it.
So why are some scientists saying that Black people are more resistant to the virus?
Well the genesis of that “claim” came from a case in China, that has doctors puzzled.
In January, a 21-year-old Cameroon national studying in China named Kem Senou Pavel Daryl became ill after contracting coronavirus and was hospitalized.
He was taken to the hospital, and quickly made a 100% recovery. According to BBC News, “The CT scan showed no trace of the illness. He became the first African person known to be infected with the deadly coronavirus and the first to recover. His medical care was covered by the Chinese state.”
But Kem was given rounds of antibiotics and other drugs while in the hospital. So his recovery could have been a result of medical care, and not the result of a superior immune system possessed by Black people.