State Starts Using Race/Ethnicity Info in COVID-19 Reporting

The state’s COVID-19 dashboard now has data broken down by race and ethnicity in an effort to identify health disparities among groups of people.

The Department of Health says it'll start using race and ethnicity information submitted in COVID-19 lab reports in order to pinpoint gaps in health outcomes

Data on the dashboard will be offered for seven different racial and ethnic groups.

• Hispanic
• American Indian/Alaska Native
• Asian
• Black
• Multi-racial/Other
• Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, and
• White

“Many communities experience poorer health outcomes because of social inequities related to race, culture, identity or where they live,. said Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, Secretary of Health. "The presentation of COVID-19 trend data by race and ethnicity is a positive step towards monitoring health outcomes of racial and ethnic minority groups."

The department is also updating the dashboard to include vaccination data for children 5 to 11, and for third doses and booster shots.