Race and Ethnicity Data Now Available on Yolo County COVID-19 Dashboard

WOODLAND, CA (MPG) - As part of ongoing efforts to provide transparent COVID-19 data to residents, Yolo County has added fields for race and ethnicity on the main COVID-19 dashboard at: www.yolocounty.org/coronavirus-dashboard. The purpose of sharing this data with the public is to better inform residents of COVID-19 in their community. Yolo County joins neighboring counties in reporting this data, including Sacramento, Napa and Solano. 

Residents will now see a third row on the main dashboard that toggles between race and ethnicity. Both tabs will show two pie charts, one pie chart showing the breakdown of confirmed COVID-19 cases by race or ethnicity and a second pie chart showing the breakdown of Yolo County’s population by race or ethnicity. There will also be a text box explaining ‘unknowns’ and ‘other’ below the pie charts; ‘unknowns’ are residents who chose not to respond or provide this information during testing or contact tracing efforts and ‘other’ are residents that did not identify with any of the options that were provided. This data is collected voluntarily.

“Across the United States, we have seen COVID-19 disproportionately impacting people of color,” said Yolo County Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson. “I am pleased that Yolo County is making data on race and ethnicity available to the public so we can begin to have a local conversation about health equity and COVID-19.”

Certain patterns and disparities can be noted by looking at this new data. Such patterns are not unique to Yolo County and can be seen in neighboring counties, throughout California and across the country. The causes of disproportionate COVID-19 cases in certain racial and ethnic groups are multiple and involve social, economic and environmental determinants of health. These determinants include occupation, such as being an essential worker or agricultural laborer, living in poverty or crowded housing, and not having access to health care.

In response to the disparity evident in the data and in recognition of the unique vulnerabilities faced by many residents, Yolo County has implemented multiple efforts to effectively communicate with all residents, including hiring additional Spanish-speaking staff, translating infographics into Spanish, Russian and Chinese, and collaborating with local and regional partners on advertising and education. The County has also made regular free testing available across the county targeting vulnerable populations, among other ongoing efforts. Yolo County remains committed to addressing the unique needs of every community during the COVID-19 crisis. 

“This new dashboard feature will enable the public to track local COVID-19 cases by race and ethnicity,” said Chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors Gary Sandy. “We now know that COVID-19 has disproportionally affected commonly under-represented groups with lower access to healthcare, inadequate housing and language barriers. This new addition to our data sets will enable observers to more closely trace the impact of the virus in these communities.”

Residents of every community are urged to remain informed and comply with all public health rules and guidance, especially limiting social gatherings, wearing face coverings, physically distancing and regularly washing their hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizer.

Residents can call Yolo 2-1-1 for resource information. For additional updates follow Yolo County on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/YoloCounty/ or Twitter at: https://twitter.com/YoloCountyCA.