Sprague Martinez in Courthouse News: Covid-19 Ethnicity Data Needed to Document Disparities

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit New York, the number of home deaths has increased tenfold, from 20-25 per day to more than 200. The “probable” cause: complications from Covid-19. Health disparities, especially in low-income and black neighborhoods, are reported to be at fault.

BUSSW professor Linda Sprague Martinez explained to Courthouse News why more data on these disparities is crucial to helping our communities.

Excerpted from “New York Lost 731 to Virus in Highest Single-Day Death Toll”:

Linda Sprague Martinez, a community health researcher at Boston University’s School of Social Work, said the city’s plan to release ethnicity data is great news.

“No data, no problem,” she said, quoting a former supervisor in New Hampshire’s Office of Minority Health. “If we don’t have data, we can’t document the problem.”

Without racial and ethnic data, Martinez said, cities are unable to direct resources to communities that need them most — before, during and after a public health crisis. She said data on Covid-19 testing is also necessary because testing mostly white or affluent communities skews results.

During the crisis, she said, such data could be used to help communities stay safe — by providing food or eviction moratoriums, for example. Once the pandemic is behind them, leaders should work directly with the community to assess their needs for the future.

“How can I build resources and infrastructure into communities where it’s been over time systematically stripped?” leaders should ask, Martinez suggested. “And how do I begin to rebuild?”

For the full text, please go to the Courthouse News article here.