Study spotlights high COVID-19 death rate for US native populationsData published today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) show nearly double the COVID-19 mortality rate among people of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) ethnicity compared with whites.AI/AN populations suffered disproportionate mortality during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, leading to concerns about a similar trend during COVID-19.
The CDC has reported 2,689 COVID-19–associated deaths among non-Hispanic AI/AN people in the United States as of Dec 2, and an earlier MMWR study found more than three times the incidence of COVID-19 among AI/AN individuals compared to whites.Researchers with the CDC, the