Native America Calling: The Native COVID-19 toll is worse than you think

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Your National Electronic Talking Circle

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

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Native deaths from COVID-19 are already disproportionately higher than the rest of the population.

But the numbers from official sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are likely much higher than what is being reported. That’s the conclusion of a reporting project by a group of media organizations that make up the Indigenous Investigative Collective.

Improperly filled out death certificates that misclassify the race or ethnicity of the deceased contributes to the erasure of Native people from data sets. Those misclassifications could affect the records of almost 50% of Native people. https://t.co/rVrqK3UaEA
— Indigenous Investigative Collective (@Indigenous_IIC) June 9, 2021

The reporting finds barriers to compiling accurate information on Native Americans because of medical privacy laws and the patchwork of tribal, state and federal services Native patients rely on.

Native America Calling will discuss the project and learn how the lack of good information is hurting the response to the pandemic.