Illinois’ Democratic congressional delegation seek federal data collection on COVID-19’s impact on African American communities

The Illinois Democratic congressional delegation has called on the federal government to collect nationwide data on how the new coronavirus pandemic is affecting the country’s African American communities.

In a letter sent Tuesday to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Illinois’ two senators and its 13 Democratic House members said that data is vital to addressing racial disparities seen in Illinois and other states about the impact of the virus.

Along with collecting the information, the lawmakers called on Azar to include demographic data on cases and deaths on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

“We need to ensure that our state and local hospitals and health departments are reporting important demographic data to the CDC regarding COVID-19 cases and deaths, and that the CDC is publishing this information publicly,” the letter said. “These vital statistics can then help the federal government, as well as state and local governments and public health departments, to develop plans to protect our most vulnerable populations.”

As of Tuesday, African Americans made up 26 percent of Illinois’ 23,247 confirmed cases of COVID-19, despite making up roughly 15 percent of the state’s population. African Americans make up over 42 percent of the state’s 868 deaths.

Another 28 percent of the state’s confirmed cases have no information on race or ethnicity.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not return a request for comment.

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