Washington, DC, July 2, 2020 — Today, the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, released an update to its COVID-19 Data Lab that will allow users to see at a glance if there is a significant difference in case and death trends due to race in their state to help inform their pandemic response at the local level.

COVID-19 disproportionately affects members of some racial and ethnic minority groups, with Black persons being 3.6 times more likely than white persons to die as a result of COVID-19. The dashboard provides actionable insights on this issue by presenting state-based racial trends in COVID-19 cases and deaths. Racial case and death rates per 100,000 people were calculated for each state using The Atlantic’s case and death counts among race and ethnicity categories; these counts were normalized to population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Initially launched in April, the Data Lab, powered by Esri, showcases available data that is geared toward the specific needs of local health departments. It compiles and provides unique information to assist in the planning and response to COVID-19. In addition to the new data on race, this dynamic resource has grown to include four interactive dashboards to give users the ability to explore and gain meaningful insights into the current state of COVID-19 at the county and state level. The dashboards highlight the demographics of the communities that are currently being impacted, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, and data related to re-opening criteria.

Data for these dashboards are updated multiple times a day and are created and maintained by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at the Johns Hopkins University and supported by Esri Living Atlas team and JHU Data Services. The full methodology, including caveats on the limitations of the newly added data, is detailed on the dashboard.

Additional information on NACCHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic can be found here.

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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.