Oprah Winfrey says the coronavirus is 'ravaging' the black community

• Oprah Winfrey said COVID-19 is "ravaging" the black community in the US during an episode of "Today" on April 14.
• The award-winning talk show host and media executive is on a media tour to raise awareness about how the African American community is being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
• "It's taking us out," Winfrey told "Today" host Hoda Kotb. "It's killing your cousins and your friends and your neighbors. And you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself."
• Winfrey also opened up about concerns about her own health after a battle with pneumonia six months ago.
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Oprah Winfrey said the coronavirus is "ravaging" the black community during a media tour to promote her new Apple TV series "Oprah Talks COVID-19."

In the series, Oprah Winfrey is raising awareness about how the novel coronavirus is "having a deadly impact on black America."

Winfrey spoke to doctors, journalists, and "real people suffering in this pandemic" about the intersection of race and COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the show.

According to the limited data available on how the pandemic is affecting people of different races, African-Americans are dying from the novel coronavirus in disproportionate numbers.

Winfrey also talked about the issue on an episode of "Today" on April 14.

"It's taking us out," Winfrey told host Hoda Kotb. "It's killing your cousins and your friends and your neighbors. And you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself."

Winfrey said that because many black people have jobs that do not have the option to work from home due to systemic inequality, this places them at the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We as a people, as African-Americans, have jobs that require us to be at work," she said. "For so many African-Americans, there isn't this ability to telecommute."

Winfrey also noted that African-Americans are dying at disproportionate rates because of an increased likelihood of pre-existing conditions that make people more susceptible to developing COVID-19, like asthma and diabetes.

In a separate interview with "CBS This Morning" host Vladimir Duthiers, she discussed her battle with pneumonia six months ago, saying her "lungs never really fully cleared" afterward.

Once she heard people with pre-existing conditions were at a higher risk, she worried about her own safety during the pandemic.

"So the moment I heard preexisting conditions, I'm like, ''lock the door, nobody coming in here,'" Winfrey said.

The media executive said during her "CBS This Morning" interview she is concerned that African Americans with pre-existing conditions are not aware of how it could make then more susceptible to developing severe symptoms of COVID-19, which is why she wanted to raise awareness.

"It's not only ravaging our community but people who have preexisting conditions, which I think people didn't hear that," she said. "So if you are taking medication for your diabetes, if you're taking medication because of hypertension, if you need an asthma inhaler for asthma, if you have any kind of lung disorder."