Data shows disproportionate impact of COVID-19 among Native Americans

Thursday, August 20, 2020

By Acee Agoyo

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that COVID-19 is taking a disproportionate toll on American Indians and Alaska Natives across the nation.

Based on five months of data going back to the earliest stages of the pandemic, researchers found extremely high rates of coronavirus infections among Native Americans. The number of COVID-19 cases in 23 states was 3.5 times that of Whites of non-Hispanic origin, according to the study.

“American Indian and Alaska Native people have suffered a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 illness during the pandemic,” CDC Director Robert R. Redfield said on Wednesday.

Native Americans who have contracted COVID-19 between January 31 and July 3 were also younger, the study shows. The median age was 40, compared to 51 among the White population.

Yet the Trump Administration continues to stimy any relief to Indian Country. While our people, American citizens, are left to fend for ourselves he opens up our sacred lands to oil development, he attacks our tribal sovereignty, and he continues to try and erase our history. https://t.co/YMGPyHS05b
— Manilan Houle (@ManilanH) August 19, 2020

Further, researchers weren't able to obtain an accurate view of the health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives, to whom the federal government owes a trust and treaty responsibility. In fact, less information was collected about coronavirus symptoms, underlying conditions and hospitalization among Native Americans than of White patients.

"Because of the high prevalence of these missing data elements among AI/AN patients, analysis to identify overall prevalence, possible risk factors for COVID-19, and patient outcomes was not possible," researchers wrote in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Wednesday.

Amid the limited information, the Trump administration is touting funding investments in Indian Country. The CDC, whose relationship with tribes has been rocky, has spent $165 million since late March to help tribes and urban Indian communities address the impacts of the coronavirus.

“Funding is only one step in addressing the impact of COVID-19 on tribal communities,” said José T. Montero, Director of CDC’s Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support. “CDC is continuing to work on coordinated outreach to tribal nations through our Office of Tribal Affairs and Strategic Alliances and new Tribal Support Section to provide remote- and field-based support to our hardest hit tribal communities.”

Learn more about Case Investigation and Contact Tracing for #COVID19 with this fact sheet created by NIHB. All of our fact sheets are available at https://t.co/q4sShUc4vA #NativeHealth #IndianCountry pic.twitter.com/x9zNoliEvF
— NIHB (@NIHB1) August 7, 2020

The Indian Health Service, the primary agency for delivering care in tribal and urban communities, also has received an influx of more than $1 billion following the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act. But advocates say the money isn't enough for the U.S. government to meet its trust and treaty obligations.

"The IHS is the most chronically underfunded federal healthcare delivery system, with per capita expenditures at only 40% of national health spending in 2018 ($3,779 vs $9,409)," the National Indian Health Board wrote in a letter to President Donald Trump on August 6.

According to the NIHB, a "minimum" of $1 billion is needed for services and facilities at the IHS. Another $1 billion will cover shortfalls for American Indians and Alaska Natives who need care from outside providers, the letter stated.

"These are critical investments in furtherance of federal treaty obligations to Tribal Nations for healthcare that must be honored during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," NIHB Acting Chairman William Smith, from the Valdez Native Tribe, told the president.

With no end in sight to the pandemic, Democrats are focusing on Trump's handling of COVID-19 during their nominating convention this week. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California), who formally accepted the party's nod as vice president on Wednesday evening, said racism is to blame for the disproportionate impacts of the disease.

"And while this virus touches us all, let’s be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender," Harris said in closing out the third day of the Democratic National Convention. "Black, Latino, and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately."

"This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism," she added. "Of inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation. The injustice in reproductive and maternal health care. In the excessive use of force by police. And in our broader criminal justice system."

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The CDC study was based on data from 23 states: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Nearly all of the states are home to significant American Indian and Alaska Native populations.

But one important state was left out. Even though Arizona accounts for "at least one third of all COVID-19 cases" among Native Americans, more than 30 percent of the state's information was missing race and ethnicity data, researchers wrote.

When state data is more complete, it presents a shocking picture. New Mexico, for example, accounted for 68 percent of COVID-19 cases through July 3 even though the Native population there represents just 16 percent of the total American Indian and Alaska Native population in all 23 states.

“An economic collapse has decimated the livelihoods of millions and a moral vacuum has left our country reeling from the effects of systemic racism,” Rep. Deb Haaland (D-New Mexico), a citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna, said during the DNC's Native American Caucus meeting on Tuesday.

“We in Indian Country have been among the hardest hit," said Haaland, who is one of the first two Native women to serve in the U.S. Congress.

The DNC wraps up on Thursday with a final meeting of the Native American Caucus in the afternoon. Joe Biden is set to formally accept the party's nomination as president in the evening.