While still lower than most groups, COVID-19 deaths among White Americans have increased faster over the past 3 Years

Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic the pattern of deaths quickly became the latest manifestation of racial and ethnic health disparities, with Black, Indigenous and other people of color dying at much higher rates than White and Asian Americans. More recent data show that racial and ethnic gaps in COVID-19 death rates between White and BIPOC Americans are closing, but that disparities remain.

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Craig Helmstetter
Mapping the Avian Flu Outbreak

In early February the USDA confirmed that HPAI was found at a commercial farm with 29,000 turkeys in Dubois County, Indiana. Since then, the flu has spread rapidly now impacting nearly 38 million chickens and turkeys in backyard flocks and large commercial operations alike.

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Craig Helmstetter
Over 1 in 7 Minnesotans who needed a Reliable internet connection during pandemic did not have one

According to our Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey, only half of those from households that included someone either working from home or attending school online reported a “very reliable” internet connection. One-third indicated that their internet connection is “somewhat reliable,” with the remainder split between “slightly reliable” (9%) and not at all reliable (6%).

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B Clary
Discrimination is common nationwide—and even more so for Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian Minnesotans

Minnesota is home to some of the nation’s worst race-based disparities in employment and homeownership—and it is where George Floyd was murdered at the hands of police, sparking a national reckoning. Could that be because discrimination is worse in Minnesota? According to one recent survey the answer is: Quite possibly, yes.

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Minnesota's Diverse Communities Survey: What? Why? And how?

The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked major racial reckoning around the world. If it wasn’t obvious before that day that Minnesotans needed to better understand one another across racial and ethnic lines, it certainly was after. Minnesota’s Diverse Communities is a public opinion survey that aims to elevate the collective voices of communities that are typically underrepresented.

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Craig Helmstetter
Blue states may reach herd immunity sooner than Red states

Over the last few weeks the United States’ progress on vaccinating its population against COVID-19 has slowed, as have the associated prognostications as to when the country will reach herd immunity—or even whether we will ever reach the level of vaccination necessary to be functionally free of the virus. Given the initial excitement and high demand for vaccination, we sought to find why things have slowed down.

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Kristine Liao