With a national data collection system, public health officials could capture community-level data that adequately reflects the neighborhoods where COVID-19 patients are present. To create the system, state health department, private testing labs and hospitals must all work together.
“Local data –– from Connecticut to Michigan, from New York to Louisiana –– are telling the same story: people of color, particularly Black Americans, are more likely to get sick and die from the novel coronavirus,” said David Acosta, MD, AAMC chief diversity and inclusion officer. “This is not because the virus is naturally more harmful to racial and ethnic minorities. Rather, this is the result of policies that have shifted opportunities for wealth and health to a narrow segment of society.”
“Black, Hispanic and Native Americans, the poor, the homeless, immigrants and people who are incarcerated find themselves with fewer economic resources and with physical health conditions that make them and their communities more vulnerability to illnesses like COVID-19,” he continued.
More articles on data analytics:
UCSF launches dashboard to track how social determinants affect population health
Google, Microsoft partner with England’s health service to track COVID-19 spread
Florida city taps ‘smart thermometers’ to build COVID-19 database
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