COVID-19 Mortality Among American Indian and Alaska Native Persons - 14 States, January-June 2020

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons experienced disproportionate mortality during the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic (1,2). Concerns of a similar trend during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to the formation of a workgroup* to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 deaths...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2020-12, Vol.69 (49), p.1853-1856
Main Authors: Arrazola, Jessica, Masiello, Matthew M, Joshi, Sujata, Dominguez, Adrian E, Poel, Amy, Wilkie, Crisandra M, Bressler, Jonathan M, McLaughlin, Joseph, Kraszewski, Jennifer, Komatsu, Kenneth K, Peterson Pompa, Xandy, Jespersen, Megan, Richardson, Gillian, Lehnertz, Nicholas, LeMaster, Pamela, Rust, Britney, Keyser Metobo, Alison, Doman, Brooke, Casey, David, Kumar, Jessica, Rowell, Alyssa L, Miller, Tracy K, Mannell, Mike, Naqvi, Ozair, Wendelboe, Aaron M, Leman, Richard, Clayton, Joshua L, Barbeau, Bree, Rice, Samantha K, Rolland, Samantha JH, Warren-Mears, Victoria, Echo-Hawk, Abigail, Apostolou, Andria, Landen, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Alaska Natives - statistics & numerical data
American Indian or Alaska Native - statistics & numerical data
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - ethnology
COVID-19 - mortality
Female
Full Report
Health disparities
Health Status Disparities
Humans
Influenza A
Male
Men
Middle Aged
Mortality
Native Americans
Native North Americans
Pandemics
Public health
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) persons experienced disproportionate mortality during the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic (1,2). Concerns of a similar trend during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to the formation of a workgroup* to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 deaths in the AI/AN population. As of December 2, 2020, CDC has reported 2,689 COVID-19-associated deaths among non-Hispanic AI/AN persons in the United States. A recent analysis found that the cumulative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among AI/AN persons was 3.5 times that among White persons (3). Among 14 participating states, the age-adjusted AI/AN COVID-19 mortality rate (55.8 deaths per 100,000; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 52.5-59.3) was 1.8 (95% CI = 1.7-2.0) times that among White persons (30.3 deaths per 100,000; 95% CI = 29.9-30.7). Although COVID-19 mortality rates increased with age among both AI/AN and White persons, the disparity was largest among those aged 20-49 years. Among persons aged 20-29 years, 30-39 years, and 40-49 years, the COVID-19 mortality rates among AI/AN were 10.5, 11.6, and 8.2 times, respectively, those among White persons. Evidence that AI/AN communities might be at increased risk for COVID-19 illness and death demonstrates the importance of documenting and understanding the reasons for these disparities while developing collaborative approaches with federal, state, municipal, and tribal agencies to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on AI/AN communities. Together, public health partners can plan for medical countermeasures and prevention activities for AI/AN communities.
ISSN:0149-2195
1545-861X
DOI:10.15585/mmwr.mm6949a3