Back in July, I created an open records request (ORR) with the state to see a breakdown of testing stats by age, race, and ethnicity. The steps to get the data are detailed here but in short, the state sent me case data by age and left out the race / ethnicity.
At the beginning of September, I asked for an updated file to see if I could suss out why there was a decline in testing that began in mid August and has continued since. I'm linking to two different data files below:
An analytical dataset that pivots the data and includes race and poverty data by county (avg African American, Asian, Hispanic populations by county as well as county poverty rate). I also add the state averages race and poverty -- this to allow me to understand if the county is above or below state averages.
I explored three different ideas on where we might be seeing declines
There's not a huge change in this graph. Counties that are above and below the state poverty line seem to be testing about the same per capita from July to August
Slight change here -- counties with more Hispanics were testing more per capita in July but not by a wide margin. By august that gap had mostly shrunk. Counties with more Hispanics than the state average are testing about the same as counties with fewer hispanics than the state average.
I think this is the most interesting graph. In July, counties with above avg AA populations were testing 37% more than below avg AA counties. By August, that had shrunk to 14%. I honestly have no idea why there is such a dramatic change. There could be good reason for it. But the data does suggest that counties with above average black of African American populations are testing fewer people for COVID than counties with below average black or African American populations.
