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Comment and Humans

The way we collect covid-19 data perpetuates racism in healthcare

Covid-19 is affecting ethnic minorities more severely, but we will never understand why if we don't collect the right data, says Alisha Dua

By Alisha Dua

9 September 2020

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Michelle D'Urbano

THERE was the home health aide distraught at having potentially transmitted the coronavirus to her patients. The essential worker, just barely into his 40s, on a ventilator for six weeks. The beloved father’s family whose agony was revealed in every phone call recorded in his medical record.

These are the stories of some of the people with covid-19 whose medical records I reviewed as a research volunteer in New York City. Combined with thousands of other people’s anonymous data, such collections are critical for informing research, clinical care, government policies and funding allocations to tackle the pandemic. Participating in…

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