Texas to increase testing and study coronavirus’ impact on minority communities
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission said Friday it plans to launch a study to assess the novel coronavirus’ impact on vulnerable populations throughout the state.
Christine Mann, a spokeswoman for the agency, wrote in an email the study will aim to understand how and why the virus may have a greater impact on Texans depending on their race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, geographic location, employment status or whether they have a chronic illness or disability. The study’s launch was first reported by the Houston Chronicle late last month, and additional details were released Friday.
“Texas needs to understand the health impact of COVID-19 on these vulnerable populations to determine which of these factors may be putting some Texans at greater risk,” Mann wrote.
A spokesman for the governor’s office also confirmed a Dallas Morning News report Friday that the state plans to increase testing opportunities in predominantly black and Hispanic communities next week.
Gov. Greg Abbott has previously said that a key part of containing the virus’ spread will be targeting resources toward vulnerable populations, including the Hispanic community which “has had an over-representation in those who test positive and those who face some of the most serious consequences from COVID-19.”
Minority state lawmakers have called on Abbott to establish an emergency task force to study COVID-19’s impact on Texas’ black communities. Nationwide, in cities and states that have reported demographic data, black residents are disproportionately contracting COVID-19 and dying from it.
Texas previously struggled to fully assess the virus’ impact on racial groups in the Lone Star State, as it did not mandate the reporting of demographic data, and the data it did receive from local health departments could be incomplete.
Tarrant County also lacks a complete picture, with no race or ethnicity reported for a quarter, or 25.62% of cases, as of Friday, according to the Tarrant County Department of Public Health. An analysis by NPR also found that testing sites are disproportionately located in whiter neighborhoods, with six out of 18 testing sites in Fort Worth in neighborhoods with the lowest density of white residents.
Currently, HHSC expects to complete the study with in-house resources, Mann said. The agency estimates a preliminary analysis will begin in the fall, with additional data collection and monitoring going forward.
Initially, the agency will begin to examine any data it already has available, including health outcome data collected by the Texas Department of State Health Services, Medicaid data, and fluctuations in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families applications that may be related to COVID-19, Mann said.
“Any information we learn through this process that we can immediately apply to protecting Texans, we’ll put to use in whatever way we can, as quickly as we can,” Mann wrote.
To address “known lags and gaps in the available data,” additional data will be added to the study’s data repository as it becomes available, and a follow-up analysis that applies initial study questions to expanded data sets will be published once more complete data sets are available, Mann said.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 5:12 PM.
