Oprah Winfrey has joined a growing chorus of celebrities warning the black community to be aware coronavirus is affecting them at high rates.
Her "Oprah Talks COVID-19" series premiered on Apple TV+ on Tuesday.
"It's not only ravaging our community, but people who have preexisting conditions, which I think people didn't hear that," Winfrey told the NBC's "Today" show. "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."
Winfrey said she suffered pneumonia in September, and her "lungs never really fully cleared."
"So the moment I heard preexisting conditions, I'm like, 'Lock the door, nobody coming in here,''' she said.
Winfrey said her special talks about the need for more testing stations, but also for African Americans to understand the virus is serious.
"It's taking us out," she said. "It's killing your cousins and your friends and your neighbors. And you need to do whatever you can to protect yourself.
"We certainly understand that the responsibilities and dynamics of some people's lives, particularly African American and brown people, do not allow you to be able to stay at home. All these grocery store workers who are out there without the masks . . . that should not be. For now everybody needs to look out for themselves and for their neighbors."
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