Scientists and researchers continue to produce data every day focusing on the coronavirus outbreak and the increased number of cases in the United States. However, there is little demographic information on how the disease is impacting certain racial categories and lawmakers especially want to know when it will be available.
In a letter to Alex Azar, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both of Massachusetts said such comprehensive data that would indicate, for example, how many Black people have died from complications associated with coronavirus, is nonexistent, according to the Associated Press.
“Any attempt to contain COVID-19 in the United States will have to address its potential spread in low-income communities of color, first and foremost to protect the lives of people in those communities, but also to slow the spread of the virus in the country as a whole,” Pressley and Warren wrote to Azar. “This lack of information will exacerbate existing health disparities and result in the loss of lives in vulnerable communities.”
Over the past week, cities with large African American populations including Detroit, Milwaukee, New Orleans and Chicago have all emerged as hotspots for the growth of coronavirus, while New York remains the epicenter.
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The letter, which was also signed by Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Robin Kelly, asked that HHS-linked agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration include data on race and ethnicity as information is being collected.
So far, those agencies have not provided any racially specific data on coronavirus.

“I think we’re flying blind because we’re playing catch-up when it comes to educating the public about who is at risk,” Pressley told the AP. “In all things, I strive to push for equity. And that is not going to change, certainly not in the midst of a pandemic.”

In Baltimore, State Del. Nick Mosby is seeking the same thing and has also called out the lack of racial demographic information in Maryland related to coronavirus. “We’ve always known that, historically, there’s been health disparities in communities of color. It’s important to get ahead of it," Mosby told The Baltimore Sun.
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His concerns were not unfounded. At a Monday press conference, Maryland deputy state health secretary Fran Phillips said she was “not aware” that racial categorization has been used in collecting data on COVID-19 cases.
Because of disparities in health care, Mosby said this presents an immediate problem for communities of color and poor populations.

“Because of the stress that this pandemic will place on hospital capacity, soon residents will not be able to walk into hospital emergency rooms for screening,” Mosby said. “This will have an adverse impact on populations who are less likely to have insurance and primary care physicians.”

For the latest on the coronavirus, check out BET’s blog on the virus and contact your local health department and visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.