Data is cold and uncompromising. The story of someone’s life or ongoing health struggle is not fully told by a digit. Yet, to tell the full story of this pandemic it requires all those individual stories to be gathered accurately and precisely to inform the public. I recently joined The COVID Tracking Project, a coordinated effort by a group of data scientists, journalists, developers, epidemiologists and other professionals methodically collecting and sharing data updates on the coronavirus in the U.S .for the public. Since joining the COVID Tracking Project as a reporter, my life feels evermore consumed by these numbers. The new data coming in is painful to report on, which means it must be shared.
In the last few days, states, counties and cities began presenting additional data regarding race. The COVID-19 crisis, like any crisis, exacerbates issues of inequities, disparities, inequality and repression, and the new data is illustrating just that. Factors such as testing accessibility, proximity of health care services and urban density, which were known before, are key in understanding the ongoing discrepancies between communities.
From recent data, Milwaukee county with an approximate demographic breakdown of 90% white and 10% African-American people reports black patients comprising 70% of all COVID related deaths in the county as of April 7. In Chicago, a city with a population of approximately 30% African-American people, has African-American’s accounting 39% of all positive cases and 67% of all COVID related deaths as of April 7. Milwaukee and Chicago are two cities with known racial disparities before this crisis, and in the midst of the COVID crisis, such inequalities are seemingly more consequential. Across the nation, more states, counties and cities are starting to release their race-related data.
As for Minnesota, the state’s demographics mostly match the racial breakdown of positive COVID cases within our borders, with potential to change. During a daily press conference on April 4, Kris Ehresmann, Minnesota Department of Health Infectious Disease Director, mentioned ongoing issues with access to testing and services, and efforts to get more testing to other parts of the state, including tribal nations. She noted Minnesota’s demographics will likely change as testing accessibility and availability becomes more wide spread.
With this increase of access to testing and services for Minnesotans, inequalities in our state may be realized even more, or possibly less, than before. We won’t know until the data is released. Without a doubt, the data gathered from this pandemic will be used to inform policies now and for the future. One potential wrench in this study, as is seen across the nation, is a significant amount of reported COVID cases are listed as race unknown. In Minnesota, about 13% of all cases are listed as unknown. Chicago lists 26%. It is undocumented why this is happening.
In a twist of events, reporting accurate data of your community is a way to advocate for your community. As each community suffers from the virus, reporting about it may bring more support in. Data does lack empathy and will never tell the full story of an individual, data makes up for this in its ability to highlight systematic discrepancies and thereby advance policy change. Report information accurately and completely. This will bring attention to the struggles within your community, and in turn should result in greater resources and support. While we collectively strive to make it through the week, we can also strive for a better, more equitable future beyond COVID.