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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.

Wyoming is a predominantly white state. American Indians/Alaska Natives are a very small group, and the mortality rate because of Covid-19 in that group is more than twice the mortality rate among white people in the state. I wonder why. Is the American Indians/Alaska Natives population in Wyoming older than the white population? Do they have less access to healthcare services? How is that population being tested?

Black people are a minority in North Carolina; they account for only 21% of the population. But they represent 29% of all of the Covid-19 deaths of people with known race in the state. What is the reason for that? Do they live in places where access to healthcare is more difficult? Is it related to income? Maybe that population doesn’t even have decent access to testing and don’t discover they have the disease until it’s too late to try some sort of treatment. Maybe even when they are diagnosed, they can’t stop working, can’t rest or take the proper care to recover.

In North Carolina, Hispanic/Latinos are only 9% of the population, but they represent 29% of Covid-19 cases. What are the reasons that lead to this high number of cases among that population? I want to analyze more data about how Hispanic/Latinos live in North Carolina; do they live in the cities that were mostly impacted by the pandemic? How is their access to health systems? What about income and education? Do they participate in community gatherings that facilitate the spread of the virus?

In recent years, North Dakota’s Black population has grown rapidly; Black residents accounted for roughly 0.6 percent of the North Dakota population before 2010, but by 2018, they made up nearly 3 percent. Much of this growth can be attributed to immigration from Africa, spurred by refugees seeking asylum from countries such as Somalia, South Sudan and Liberia. African immigrant communities have coalesced in major metropolitan centers such as Bismarck, Grand Forks and Fargo-Moorhead, with community organizations such as the Afro American Development Association stepping in to provide services that are often lacking from the state government.

At the same time, the CRDT data from the COVID Tracing Project show that the rate of COVID cases (per 100,000) for Black people in North Dakota is almost twice as high as for white people, even exceeding other vulnerable categories such as Native Americans. Although the data do not provide a breakdown between COVID’s impacts on African Americans and recent African immigrants to North Dakota, several underlying conditions could contribute to disparate impacts from COVID-19 on both groups.

African Americans in North Dakota are disproportionately likely to be low-income and have pre-existing health problems. Immigrant communities, meanwhile, are heavily represented in North Dakota’s healthcare industry, particularly in long-term care facilities that are also extremely vulnerable to COVID; language barriers and a lack of access to the internet can also make some communities difficult to reach with warnings about the virus, while large multigenerational homes can quickly spread the disease.

This story will explore this disparity and its impacts on Black and African American communities in North Dakota. By speaking to the North Dakota chapter of the NAACP, I will explore how the growing African American community has been hit by COVID, including speaking to a member of the community who actually experienced the disease. I will also focus on the Afro American Development Association in Fargo, which has worked with the city government to develop a program to help African immigrants with quarantining and has translated important COVID-19 related information into their relevant languages.

Finally, I will round out my reporting by speaking to public health employees and contact tracers from the North Dakota Department of Health, who can explain some of the demographic breakdown that they’ve seen as well as what actions are being taken on the state level to combat this disparity. This story will fill a crucial gap in information about North Dakota’s Black population and the specific difficulties that COVID poses to immigrant communities.

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

Based on current data, it is clear that White, Unknown, and AIAN communities are being most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Montana. What I propose is a deeper look into the living conditions of AIAN community and how they are combatting the crisis as a community. According to Aaron Wernham, CEO of the nonprofit Montana Healthcare Foundation, said Native families are more susceptible to COVID-19 because multiple generations of a family often live in the same home. “So you’ve got elders who are particularly vulnerable to getting severe COVID infections, living with a large family, with younger people who may be out and about more” (https://www.mtpr.org/post/native-americans-account-13-percent-montana-covid-19-cases). Examining this could be an important angle to better understand how this erased community is handling the pandemic in the private sphere.

Potential Sources:
CDC Tribal Population Website
Montana Website
Sources including The Crow Tribe, Northern Cheyenne, and Blackfeet Nation information

For the state of Alabama, I’d like to understand what the unknown deaths are within the state. Like other journalists have touched on in my class, I’d like to know what the unknown cases are in Alabama and which groups are contributing to these deaths. I believe that these deaths should be analyzed and also I’d like to investigate which races are contributing to this “unknown” category.

I’d like to interview again ACLU Alabama, Alabama Health Department, and clinics and hospitals within the rural areas of Alabama.

For my story on Mississippi, I think that it would be important to analyze and research why the deaths of black residents is on the rise in this state. Throughout the United States, black deaths and minority deaths in general have been on the rise due to COVID-19. In Mississippi, there is a large minority population and rural areas with most likely less clinics in those areas. I’d like to use data to really detail why black residents are facing the most fatalities.

I would use sources such as the ACLU in Mississippi, the Mississippi Health Department, and the governor of Mississippi.

Montana reports race for only 53% of COVID cases, which is one of the lowest in the country. I propose a story that investigates which races are being erased by this lumping of race in ‘Unknown’ categories. I am particularly seeing that the American Indian or Alaska Native alone population makes up for 6% of the population, 19% of cases, and 38% of deaths, which is highly alarming.

Potential sources:
Montana Website
Montana State University Website