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Data shows African Americans might be more affected by COVID-19 than other groups-The Daily Tar Heel She said the other officials signed on to the letter, and she was pleased to receive a quick response from Quintana Stewart, the Orange County health director. The Orange County Health Department released demographic information on April 13, but said 30-40 percent of confirmed cases in the county are missing demographic information, and the data should not be used at this time to make any generalizations about who may or may not have higher rates of infection. Prelipp said testing capability has been limited, so the confirmed cases referenced in the study represent only part of all cases in the community. Thirty-seven percent of COVID-19 cases in the county were African Americans and 54 percent were white, according to the data released by the health department. Prelipp said the total number of cases in Orange County is small compared to other counties, such as Wake or Durham. However, she said the discrepancy in the data means they cannot definitively say one racial group fares worse than the other. Allison De Marco, advanced research scientist at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute whose research focuses in part on poverty and racial equity, said in an email that systems in the United States have resulted in long-term inequities for populations of color. "Orange County is just a microcosm of what we see everywhere in terms of lack of or disinvestment in communities of color, like the lack of sewer and water in the historically Black community of Rogers Road, siting of environmental hazards, like the long-time landfill in Rogers Road and the industrial land uses near the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Carrboro," De Marco said. De Marco said community engagement on behalf of leadership is critical and involves making sure all voices can be heard and prioritizing those closest to an issue. She said the long-term efforts needed would be to take the fight to the root causes of racial inequities. At the local level Carrboro, Chapel Hill and the Orange County Health Department have all become members of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity. De Marco said this provides them with an organizational assessment, ongoing training and an action plan to work from. Prelipp said the Orange County Health Department is working with several community partners to get a better sense of what is being said and done in the African American community and other communities of color related to COVID-19. "In this time, we want to lean on those working and living in the community to help push out messages, to help share information on social media, to call up people they know, etc," she said. https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2020/04/covid-racial-impact[5/15/20, 11:04:53 AM]