Throughout the Spring of 2020, journalists in Nebraska called for the release of Covid-19 case and death data by race and ethnicity. The Nebraska state government acquiesced in late June, reflected in the stark dip in the “unknown” race and ethnicity case incidences around that time. Presently, nearly one in three Covid-19 cases in Nebraska are registered under the category of “unknown” race and ethnicity. “Unknown” race and ethnicity case rates have the highest rate of increase, begging the question; who make up Nebraska’s infected “unknown” population, and why do they remain unknown?
I have been in contact with Alison Keyser-Metobo, Epidemiology Surveillance Coordinator for the State of Nebraska. In our initial conversation, Alison confirmed that Nebraska collects more granular data about who comprises the unknown category than is displayed in its Covid reporting dashboard. In fact, Nebraska was mandated to collect data on citizens who self-reported as multi-race, as this is a federal standard set by the United States Census, and she understands this demographic to be reported as part of their “unknown” category. That being said, multi-race citizens only make up 2.7% of Nebraska’s population according to the United States Census. Should multi-race citizens of Nebraska account for the majority of the “unknown” population, my article would reveal a substantial racial/ethnic disparity in Covid-19 infections. For reference, the Covid Tracking project has identified a racial/ethnic disparity among Black or African American Nebraskans, and “unknown” cases in Nebraska outnumber Black or African American cases by a factor of 11.
Alison has not inspected Nebraska’s “unknown” demographic breakdown but has agreed to give me access to that data as she is similarly interested in my findings and analysis. Alison has also offered to provide me county-level breakdowns of Covid-19 cases by race and ethnicity but must first confirm that the data could not be used to identify Nebraska citizens, as its population is so low. I intend to confer with members of the Douglas County Board of Health, who recently declared racism a public health crisis in Nebraska, to discuss their analyses of health discrimination in the state. I will ask them why they believe multi-race citizens are being reported as “unknown”, and if they would provide additional data to aid in socioeconomic insights.
Initially, I was curious to see if Nebraska’s prison population was counted under the “unknown” race and ethnicity case population. However, despite a worrisome spike in Nebraskan prison guard infections, Nebraska’s prisons have retained a relatively low infection rate in its prison population.