Editorial: Kansas must address health inequities
Topeka Capital Journal
June 9, 2020
Last month, for instance, the Wichita Eagle reported that Kansas had the biggest disparity in COVID-19 deaths of the 41 states that were reporting data by race. According to work by UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute, while black Kansans make up only 5.6% of the state’s population, they accounted for nearly a third of our state’s fatalities from the coronavirus.
Looking at the most recent data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the rate appears to have dropped in the weeks since that report. But black people still account for a quarter of deaths in the state.
The social determinants of health are many and complex. But Kansans must look carefully at why these inequities persist.
Demographic data for COVID-19 shows racial disparities higher in Michigan, but more data needed
Michigan Radio
May 18, 2020
A study from the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California Berkeley ranks Michigan as its fourth most racially disparate states when it comes to COVID-19 deaths. Michigan ranks sixth in racial disparities in COVID-19 infection rates.
The study shows an interactive heat tracking map of racial disparities from state to state. The map looks at the racial makeup of the population, and then how that population is represented in the rates of COVID infection and deaths. For example, in Michigan, U.S. Census data shows black people make up 14% of the state's population, but account for 32% of COVID cases and 41% of COVID related deaths.
Kansas has largest racial disparity in COVID-19 death rates, study finds
The Wichita Eagle
May 13, 2020
Kansas has the largest racial disparity among the 41 states that report demographic information about those who have died with COVID-19, according to a study by UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute.
Nearly a third of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been black Kansans, although they account for only 5.6% of the state’s population.
The UC Berkeley study does not examine root causes of the disparity but provides comparisons between states through a heat map that shows racial disparities by state.
Map: Where SF’s COVID-19 cases are happening
Curbed SF (reposted on MSN)
April 21, 2020
In March, UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute attempted to map which neighborhoods are potentially the most vulnerable to the outbreak with a number of variables indicating social vulnerability.
For example, the institute’;s mapping project singles out tracts where more students rely on reduced price school lunches to discern where the city concentrates more low-income households—and sure enough, the spread does bear some resemblance to the city’s map of confirmed diagnoses.
UC Berkeley researchers create interactive map detailing COVID-19 information
The Daily Californian
April 16, 2020
UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute launched an interactive map of California on March 28 displaying consolidated information on coronavirus cases and other community factors.
Created by Othering & Belonging Institute researcher Arthur Gailes, the map compiles individual pieces of preexisting information from sources including the census and the New York Times. Othering & Belonging Institute researcher Samir Gambhir has also contributed to the map through data collection.
“We wanted to combine direct COVID-19 information with overlaid data that concern communities that were likely to be disproportionately harmed,” Gailes said. “Not just by the virus, but also by the downstream economic health.”
UC Berkeley Group Builds Interactive COVID-19 Mapping Tool For Vulnerable Populations
Bay City News Service (published in CBS Bay Area, SF Gate, and The Napa Valley Register)
April 13, 2020
A new online mapping tool is helping researchers more accurately locate California communities most at risk from the novel coronavirus.
The interactive tool features more than a dozen distinct data points — including COVID-19 infection and mortality rates — and overlays that information on a state map highlighting pollution levels by county or neighborhood.
MAP: COVID-19: Mapping Vulnerable Populations
“As this crisis has advanced, we wanted to bring the work we were doing to the coronavirus analysis,” said Arthur Gailes, the fair housing coordinator for the Opportunity Mapping Project at the University of California at Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute, which built the tool.
Kelaita: Mark Twain Medical Center doubling number of beds in anticipation of new coronavirus cases
Calaveras Enterprise
March 24, 2020
The number of hospital beds per 1,000 people in Calaveras County is 2.7, based on a map developed by the Othering & Belonging Institute at University of California, Berkeley released Tuesday.
Also, according to the map, the county falls into a subset of 13 counties across the state whose population is between 30% and 37% residents over the age of 60, a high-risk demographic.
