Pacific Islanders and Alaska Natives only represent 1% of Alaska’s population, but their likelihood of contracting Covid-19 is disproportionately higher. They are also the most likely to die from the virus. For this story, I want to explore the causes for the sharp difference and whether the hospitalization rate is also higher for NHPI.
Additionally, I want to compare the case/death rate of NHPI in Alaska against two benchmarks: the top five states with the highest population of NHPI, and the top five cases with the highest amount of NHPI cases. From my research, I have found that the states with the highest population of NHPI are not necessarily the states with the highest rate of NHPI cases and fatalities. For example, Hawaii and California have by far the highest population, but they are not among the states with the highest death/case rates. I will compare 10 states (highest NHPI population + highest NHPI death/case rates) pulling the information from the CRDT data.
Despite many sources stating that the NHPI death/case rate is higher, the Alaska Department of Health’s website indicates that the case rate among whites is higher. I would like to contact someone in the department to ask them how they reached that conclusion and how they obtained the information.
The length would be approximately 1,000 words.
Potential sources:
- Alaska Chief Medical Officer Anne Zink
- The Pacific Islander Center of Primary Care Excellence (PI-CoPCE)
- Alaska Department of Health
- A NHPI from Alaska, and a NHPI from a state that doesn’t have a high population of NHPI but a high death/case rate
- President of the Polynesian Association of Alaska
- NHPI COVID-19 Data Policy Lab at the UCLA Center for
- Health Policy Research Ninez A. Ponce, PhD, MPP Director, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research