The COVID-19 pandemic is shining a light on well-established racial disparities in health care access and quality, and in social and economic factors affecting health status and outcomes. The racial inequities exposed by case identification and death rates data give states opportunities to improve their responses and interventions.

As state and local data becomes available, Louisiana and Illinois governors have highlighted racial disparities in COVID-19 cases and deaths. This aligns with governors’ recent public statements about equity – 22 governors mentioned the need for educational, economic, and social equity in their state of the state addresses earlier this year.

State public health agencies are working around the clock to inform the public about the pandemic by regularly monitoring and reporting data, which is one of their core functions. An analysis by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) of state public health websites found that 25 states (AL, AR, AZ, CA, CT, GA, ID, IL, IN, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MS, NY, NC, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, and WI) and Washington, DC are reporting COVID-19 data by race and/or ethnicity.