The federal Department of Health and Human Services released its first mandated report on COVID-19 to Congress on Friday. U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut says the lack of data raises more questions.
“What is CDC doing to get 100% of the demographic data? We need to have all of the data. We have it all for age, so we know it should be possible for race and ethnicity.”
DeLauro says complete data will help Congress plan COVID-19 programs to make sure black and Latino communities hit hard by the virus also get enough federal relief.
Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, who studies the health of infants and mothers, says if the report is biased, then recovery efforts could be, too, and “we will continue to create solutions based upon our biases.”
Crear-Perry says the government already shares race data for pregnant women in a way that protects patient privacy, and officials need to do that for coronavirus.
DeLauro was speaking on a conference call on Monday with members of the We Must Count Coalition, a group of health and civil rights leaders who want complete data to track COVID-19 disparities.
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