ously,” reflected Bannister, who

was also infected but asymp-

tomatic. “I don’t know. I just

pray God will help me find a

way to deal with the situation.”

It’s not just grieving relatives

who are demanding answers.

Nearly nine months after the

virus exploded in the United

States, and amid big treatment

strides, the disease continues to

ravage African American and

other minority communities

with a particular vengeance.

Black, Asian, Native American

and Hispanic patients still die

far more frequently than White

patients, even as death rates

have plummeted for all races

and age groups, according to a

Washington Post analysis of

records from 5.8 million people

who tested positive for the virus

from early March through mid-

October.

Death rates overall have fall-

en more than 80 percent from

SEE VIRUS ON A

larly vulnerable? Had they got-

ten the right care?

“Folks think maybe they saw

an African American coming in,

and they didn’t take them seri-

dered, had the virus hit his

family so hard, and not just

them, but so many African

Americans? Was there some-

thing that made them particu-

BY DAN KEATING,

ARIANA EUNJUNG CHA,

GABRIEL FLORIT

AND CHRIS ALCANTARA

Dennis Bannister’s daughter,

Demi, was the first to die.

She was only 28, a beloved

third-grade teacher who prob-

ably caught the virus during

training at her Columbia, S.C.,

school district. Doctors diag-

nosed her with a bladder infec-

tion, and by the time they

realized their mistake, it was

too late. Not long after, the

family’s matriarch, Shirley, 57,

complained of difficulty breath-

ing. She was twice sent home

from the emergency room be-

fore returning by ambulance

and being put on a ventilator.

She died soon after.

Which left Dennis Bannister,

childless and a widower, sitting

on his porch last month, staring

at the last of the green leaves

and mourning. Why, he pon-

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CONTENT © 2020

The Washington Post / Year 143, No. 353

$ 201

Covid’s cruelty cuts deepest in communities of color

Racial, ethnic minorities continue to die at much higher rates even as virus’s lethality wanes

BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA,

AMY B WANG

AND CHELSEA JANE

President Trump’s effort to per-

suade state and local Republicans

to help him in overturning the

election has so far run into a quiet

resistance that could mark a com-

ing end to his attempt at an un-

precedented power grab.

The Republican-led Board of

Supervisors in Maricopa County,

Ariz., voted unanimously Friday

to certify the county’s election

results, with the board chairman

declaring there was no evidence

of fraud or misconduct “and that

is with a big zero.”

The top GOP lawmakers in

Pennsylvania, where counties

must submit their official results

by Monday, hav e said they have no

role in deciding the winner of the

state’s electoral college votes,

writing in an op-ed last month

that the law “plainly says that the

state’s electors are chosen only by

the popular vote of the common-

wealth’s voters.”

And Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp,

a Republican, moved to certify his

state’s results Friday, confirming

Biden’s win there and refusing to

endorse Trump’s claim that the

vote was tainted by fraud.

On Saturday, a f ederal judge

threw out the Trump campaign’s

lawsuit that sought to block certi-

fication of Pennsylvania’s election

results. “In the United States of

America, this cannot justify the

disenfranchisement of a single

voter, let alone all the voters of its

sixth most populated state,” U.S.

District Judge Matthew W. Brann

wrote.

While some Republican offi-

cials in presidential battleground

states have given credence to

Trump’s baseless fraud claims by

launching websites and tip lines

SEE LEGISLATORS ON A

Trump’s defiance

of voters’ will hits

GOP resistance

OFFICIALS IN KEY STATES CERTIFY BIDEN WIN

Repeated declarations of no signs of electoral fraud

BY PHILIP RUCKER,

ASHLEY PARKER

AND JOSH DAW

President Trump would have

the world falsely believe th at he

won the ele ction and is prepar-

ing for a second term.

In private huddles and phone

conversations, however, Trump

has been discussing an entirely

different next act: another presi-

dential run in 2024.

In a nod to the reality that he is

destined to leave office in Janu-

ary, the president is seriously

contemplating life beyond the

White House, telling advisers

that he wants to remain an

omnipresent force in politics and

the media — perhaps by running

for the White House again.

T rump has told confidants he

could announce a 2024 cam-

paign before the end of this year,

which would immediately set up

a potential rematch with Presi-

dent-elect Joe Biden.

Trump also has been exploring

ways to make money for relative-

ly li ttle work, such as giving paid

speeches to corporate groups or

selling tickets to rallies. In addi-

tion, he may try to write a

score-settling memoir of his time

as president and appear on tele-

vision, in a paid or unpaid capac-

ity.

SEE TRUMP ON A

In private, Trump mulls

next act: A bid in 2024

Confidants say he plans

to dominate GOP politics

for years to come

BY WILLIAM BOOTH,

EVA DOU,

ROBYN DIXON

AND LUISA BECK

london — A coronavirus vac-
cine is coming soon. The ques-
tion now for the world is who will
be at the front of the line for an
injection.
In the initial months, vaccines
will certainly be rationed. De-
mand will outstrip supply. There
will be millions of doses avail-
able, not billions.
Health ministries around the
globe are just now beginning to
create the lists that will prioritize
vaccine allocation within their
countries. It is harder than it

might seem.

Nations need to wrestle with

questions of fairness and expedi-

ency. They need to determine

how to balance saving the lives of

the most vulnerable against stop-

ping the spread of the virus

against the need to keep essential

workers — however they are de-

fined — on the job.

Tough decisions await: Who

goes first, second or third?

In France, scientific advisory

bodies have flagged as high prior-

ity both people whose age and

whose occupation make them

vulnerable. But while doses are

limited? Officials may have to

choose, for example, between the

26-year-old Paris taxi driver, who

shares a confined space all day

with his passengers, and the 69-

year-old investor who is working

remotely from his villa in

SEE VACCINE ON A

A tough decision: Who will

be first in line for vaccine?

Nations start to hash out

lists based on occupation,

age and general health

RALPH BOSE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Jeffrey Yoshikawa is a m ember of the Marshallese community

in Spokane, Wash., which is 1 p ercent of the county’s population

but 30 percent of the coronavirus caseload. He had covid-19.

BY SUSANNAH GEORGE

kandahar, afghanistan —
The Taliban’s att acks outside this
large provincial capital began
this month with little out of the
ordinary: sporadic small-arms
fire on military outposts. Quickly,
though, the gunfire morphed into
a barrage of heavy artillery that
allowed thousands of Taliban
fighters to pour into the district of

Arghandab.

Within a matter of days, the

district, which had been under

government control for a decade,

was in Taliban hands.

It was only after a series of

punishing U.S. airstrikes that Af-

ghan ground forces were able to

retake the territory, Afghan offi-

cials said. U.S. air support played

a similarly critical role last month

in pushing back the militant

group in Helmand province,

where the Taliban came within

yards of breaching the provincial

capital’s limits.

The ba ttles come as U.S. forces

have begun to close Kandahar Air

Field, according to two Afghan

officials, as part of an accelerated

drawdown of U.S. forces in the

country. After the recent weeks of

intense fighting, many here fear

the reduced troop numbers and

base closures could mean less U.S.

support for future battles against

an emboldened Taliban.

The U.S. airstrikes were “the

only reason the Taliban was

pushed back,” said Lt. Col. Niaz

Mahmad Majahad, the national

police commander in Arghandab

SEE TALIBAN ON A

Afghans fear Taliban onslaught a s U .S. forces wane

order for turkeys. Without a supplier for the

holiday meal’s main course, Ames felt as

though she was letting down 600 families.

She tried not to panic. Ames dialed the

local Safeway to see if they would take a

large turkey order. No bulk orders, they

JAHI CHIKWENDIU/THE WASHINGTON POST

Sharon Ames, right, executive director of the Fauquier Community Food Bank and Thrift Store, chats with patron Gloria Webster,

left, as volunteer Mary C rigler watches Tuesday in Warrenton, Va. Ames aimed to acquire 600 Thanksgiving t urkeys for families.

BY KYLE SWENSON

T

he words from the other end of the

phone landed like a sucker punch,

and as Sharon Ames absorbed the

message, she realized she was in trouble.

“This little old lady is about to have a heart

attack,” Ames thought about herself.

It was early November and Ames, the

executive director of the Fauquier Commu-

nity Food Bank and Thrift Store in Warren-

ton, Va., was preparing for a Thanksgiving

food drive. Six hundred families had signed

up for free holiday meals, a good 150 more

than usual. But now the representative

from her local Walmart had called to say the

store could not honor the food bank’s bulk

Thanksgiving tenacity: ‘They can’t eat a gift card’

Va. food bank’s fight to get

turkeys to the needy evokes

U.S. effort vs. food insecurity

said. Then Food Lion. No bulk orders. Giant

next. No bulk orders. “But Sharon,” one

supermarket representative told her, Ames

would later recall. “You can still give them a

gift card.”

“They can’t eat a gift card,” Ames re-

sponded.

It wasn’t just about turkey for Ames, or

for many other providers feeding the mil-

lions of Americans pitched into hunger

since March. The past year had seen a

once-in-a-century pandemic. A manic stock

market. Ten million pink slips and viral

photos of cars in miles-long lines at food

SEE TURKEYS ON A

An examined life

Obama memoir is

about many things,

but Biden isn’t one

of them OUTLOOK

Yet another struggle

The pandemic has

Black-owned businesses

fighting for their lives

BUSINESS

Words about birds

Our guide to the

history and secrets

of Thanksgiving

FOOD SPECIAL SECTION

ABCDE

Prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington. SU V1 V2 V3 V

Cooler 58/52 • Tomorrow: Showers, windy 55/39 C12 Democracy Dies in Darkness SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2020. $3.

“We are a microcosm of what is happening everywhere else in the world.”

Mimi Forbes, manager of the Rappahannock Pantry in Sperryville, Va.

Voter fraud claims: Justice Dept.

maintains silent skepticism. A

Michigan tally: GOP officials seek

audit, delayed certification. A

The Take: Trump is determined to

undermine Biden’s presidency. A

Virus’s fall wave worsens:

U.S. infections top 12 million. A

Rocket attack: Eight people are

dead, 31 wounded in Kabul. A

7

Pennsylvania: Judge dismisses

Tr ump campaign lawsuit. A