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A police lieutenant and father of three from Baker, Louisiana died of complications from Covid-19 on August 13 – a day before his wedding.
Demarcus Dunn, 36, who was not vaccinated, had planned to marry his fiancee Francine in July 2020, but postponed the ceremony until August 14 due to the pandemic, the chief of police of Baker, Carl Dunn.
But Dunn tested positive for the virus on July 29 and was put on a ventilator on August 10. Carl Dunn, who is the victim’s cousin, said he was unsure why the police lieutenant had not been vaccinated and that it was not a requirement. of the department.
Her death comes amid a lingering reluctance to get vaccinated among black Americans, many of whom say their reason lies in historic discrimination in health care.
Louisiana has a large gap in vaccination rates between black and white residents, with nearly twice as many whites vaccinated (59%) as the black population (31%).
A few days after Dunn’s death, Louisiana reached its highest number of Covid-19 cases with 13,370 recorded on August 16.
Demarcus Dunn (left), 36, a police lieutenant from Baker, Louisiana, died of complications from Covid-19 on August 13 – a day before his wedding. He is pictured above with his cousin and Police Chief Baker Carl Dunn
Dunn planned to marry his fiancee Francine on August 14, but tested positive for the virus on July 29
Carl Dunn said he did not know why the police lieutenant was not vaccinated and that it was not a requirement of the department
Dunn, a father of three, was also a US Air Force veteran
‘It was disturbing to me that he didn’t understand it [the vaccine] and I didn’t know for sure he didn’t get it until it was all over, ”Carl told ABC News.
Two days before he tested positive for the virus, Dunn posted a video of a large maskless party on a boat in Jamaica on his Facebook page.
He is seen dancing, also without a mask, in the video, captioned “The climb was real”. However, it is not known if this is where he contracted the virus.
Dunn, who is black, had symptoms such as cough, headache and difficulty breathing, but Carl Dunn said he spoke to him “every day and always looked upbeat”. . . even the day he went on a ventilator, I spoke to him that morning, and he told me he didn’t feel bad, ”the chef told ABC News.
“I know he was a fighter and he had a strong will. I kept telling myself that he was going to be okay and I continued to assure the family that I knew he was going to be okay.
Two days before he tested positive for the virus, Dunn posted a video on his Facebook page of a large maskless party on a boat in Jamaica
The reluctance to get vaccinated has been much greater in black communities, as many medical professionals say the reason lies in historical discrimination and mistrust in health care due to events such as the United States Public Health Service Syphilis Study in Tuskegee, in which black Americans were forced to suffer from untreated syphilis from 1932 to 1972 in a study to see its long-term impact on the body.
A March 2021 study published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information found that about 33% of black Americans said they were “not sure” to get the vaccine and about 23% said, “I will not get the vaccine. never the vaccine ”.
Meanwhile, 23% of white Americans said they were “not sure” to get the vaccine and only about 12% said they would never get it.
The study adds: “Blacks cite our nation’s history of racism in medical research and healthcare as the main reasons for their reluctance.”
According to an Aug. 16 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, based on data available for 58% of people who received at least one dose of the vaccine, 12% of those vaccinations were from black Americans and 61% from white Americans.
Louisiana is also one of the states with the lowest vaccination rates with just 40 percent of the population fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data. And in Jamaica, where Dunn was on vacation before his diagnosis, only about 5% of the population is fully vaccinated.
Louisiana’s Covid-19 cases peaked in the pandemic on August 16, with 13,370 new cases and a seven-day moving average of 5,386 cases, according to the New York Times. Deaths also peaked on August 17 with 122 recorded and a seven-day average of 50.
Dunn had three children aged 1, 5 and 13. He was also an Air Force veteran and a coach for a number of local youth sports leagues.
“We lost our teddy bear Lieutenant Demarcus Dunn,” Carl Dunn wrote in a recent Facebook post shared by the department.
He added that he once asked how his cousin could devote all his free time to training the children.
‘He responded by informing me that he lost his father as an infant and the only one [other fathers] he knew they were coaches. He went on to inform me that the coaches had really changed the projection of his life and that he wanted to do the same for the other kids. I was very impressed.
Carl Dunn added, “To me he was just a big teddy bear full of love for everyone he met. Yes, I had to bother with him, but every time I did, I thought about how much he reminded me of myself and smiled afterward. I must thank our God for blessing us with Demarcus.
Baker Mayor Darnell Waites said in a statement: “My heart has been heavy ever since I learned of DeMarcus Dunn’s passing. He was a father, husband, soldier, mentor, friend and elder. Baker’s policeman – a man loved by all. His dedicated life in the service of others has been a shining example for our community. ‘
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