In this podcast, Jourdan Bennett-Begaye helps explain why the CDC data on Native Americans and Alaskan natives is neither accurate nor helpful. The CDC finally published, in August of 2020, its first data regarding the effects of COVID on Tribal nations. They estimated that Native Americans are 3.5% more likely to get COVID. They also saw that Native Americans under the age of 18 are testing positive for COVID at a higher rate than white people in the same age category. With only 23 states included in the study, the CDC did not have enough data to depict the impact of COVID accurately. Some of the states left out of the study, like Oklahoma, Colorado, and Washington, have a high population of Native Americans. There are some gaps in the data; one of which is that doctors are not always accurate in their reporting. Often the patient’s race is determined by their last name, instead of their true ethnic group. Many Native Americans were assumed to be Latinx and were, therefore, officially documented as a Latinx person. Another gap is that Indian Health Services, a tribe’s private health service, is unwilling to disclose their data on COVID-19. Jourdan Bennett Begaye is trying to fix the problem of unaccounted-for data and has developed a method for filling the gaps. She uses social media, native radio stations, and also calls many tribes to find accurate information. Begaye estimates that the reported 3.5% infection rate for Native Americans is likely a lot higher. John Hopkins University has now collaborated with Jourdan Bennett Begaye and they have assembled a research team to collect more accurate data on Native Americans.
