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Law360 (August 21, 2020, 3:36 PM EDT) -- American Indians and Alaska Natives are contracting the novel coronavirus at higher rates than non-Hispanic white Americans, according to a new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control that reviewed positive case data from 23 states.
The virus incidence rate for Native Americans is 3.5 times that of the white population, the CDC found. Its analysis revealed a positive COVID-19 case rate of 594 per 100,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives, compared to 169 per 100,000 for the white population.
The agency determined cumulative incidence, or the number of positive cases per 100,000 people, by analyzing 340,059 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases between Jan. 22 and July 3 from states where adequate race and ethnicity data was available.
The CDC's Aug. 19 report cites exacerbating factors for Native Americans, including racial inequality that contributes to health disparities.
"Historical trauma and persisting racial inequity have contributed to disparities in health and socioeconomic factors between AI/AN and white populations that have adversely affected AI/AN communities," the CDC wrote.
The agency also cited factors such as "reliance on shared transportation, limited access to running water, [and] household size" among native populations that can lead to community spread.
The CDC noted in its findings that Native Americans who test positive for COVID-19 tend to be younger than white people who contract the disease. Nearly 13% of the Native American cases analyzed were among people under 18, compared to 4.3% cases among white people in that age group.
More than a quarter of white people who tested positive were over 65, compared to just 12.6% of Native Americans.
Wednesday's report acknowledged limitations, including that some case data is provided voluntarily. According to the CDC, it examined data from states that are home to roughly a third of the country's native population.
"More complete case information is needed to more effectively guide the public health response to COVID-19 among the AI/AN population," the CDC wrote. "The collection of this information can be facilitated by more consistent, complete, and accurate collection and reporting by providers, reporting laboratories, and local, state, federal, and tribal public health practitioners, and ensuring the resources to do so."
The CDC on Wednesday said it has directed more than $200 million in COVID-19 funding to Native Americans.
--Editing by Gemma Horowitz.
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