![]() ![]() Nationally, American Indian or Alaska Native people are more likely to die from COVID-19 than any other race or ethnicity, according to a September CDC report.Ĭompared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts of a similar age, American Indian or Alaska Native people are 1.7 times more likely to be infected with COVID-19, 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 2.4 times more likely to die from the disease, the CDC found. ![]() ![]() This group comprises an additional 1.6% of the state’s total population. “So our lives don’t matter because there aren’t enough of us?” Hawk Lessard, who identifies as a descendant of Shawnee, Assiniboine, and European people, said to Capital News Service.Īn additional 96,805 people in Maryland identify as American Indian and Alaska Native in combination with one or more races, according to a Capital News Service analysis of data from the 2020 census. In Maryland, 31,845 people identify as American Indian and Alaska Native alone, comprising 0.5% of the state’s total population, according to the 2020 U.S. Owen did not specify which other races and ethnicities are included in the “Other” category of the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. Source: (Photo: Trisha Ahmed/Capital News Service) “American Indian or Alaska Native” is not an option for race/ethnicity, but the following categories are: African-American (NH), Asian (NH), White (NH), Hispanic, Other (NH) and Data not available. A screenshot of Maryland’s COVID-19 dashboard, created by the Maryland Department of Health, shows COVID-19 cases and deaths by county, age range, gender, and race and ethnicity on Oct. However, the Maryland Department of Health does not publish the number of self-identified Native Americans or Alaska Natives who contracted COVID-19 or died from the disease. Race and ethnicity are self-reported data points, Owen added. “There is no regulation that requires this manner of reporting,” Owen wrote, when asked if any regulation requires Maryland to put American Indians and Alaska Natives in the “Other” racial and ethnic category. However, American Indians and Alaska Natives are at the highest risk for death and hospitalization from COVID-19 among all races and ethnicities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Maryland Department of Health puts American Indians and Alaska Natives in the “Other” category for COVID-19 cases and death numbers “due to low statistical occurrence given the population of Native Americans in the state,” department spokesperson Andy Owen wrote in an email to Capital News Service. “Not only is that bad public health, but it’s also very dehumanizing for American Indians and Alaska Natives on our native lands,” Kerry Hawk Lessard, executive director of the health services nonprofit Native American Lifelines of Baltimore, said to Capital News Service. More than 120,000 people who identify as Native American live in Maryland, but without public-facing numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths, it is a mystery how many the disease has affected - and how many resources should be allocated to help them. Lumped into the “Other” racial and ethnic category, American Indians and Alaska Natives are effectively invisible on Maryland’s state website for COVID-19.
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