Photo Courtesy of Pixabay
Photo Courtesy of Pixabay
North Carolina and Triangle County health officials are not willingly publishing as much data about confirmed coronavirus cases as other states, according to local media reports.
After multiple requests, Mecklenberg County released demographic information showing nearly half of all cases in the county were in people under age 40.
According to a Charlotte Observer March 20 article, open government proponents said that withholding more information than necessary limits opportunities for the public to stay informed about the coronavirus.
The Raleigh News and Observer reported on March 24 it requested demographic information, including age or age range, gender, race and zip code of COVID-19 patients across the state, but particularly in Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham and Johnston counties.
“Wake County is committed to openness and transparency,” Dara Demi, Wake County communications director, told the Raleigh News and Observer. “However, before we share the information you requested, we need to analyze the data, which is coming in from multiple sources, to make sure it’s as accurate and informative as possible.”
Some counties said that releasing demographic information violates patient privacy laws including HIPPA.
“HIPAA protects personally identifiable healthcare information, but it does not in any way prevent the disclosure of aggregated data and does not prohibit the disclosure of aggregated data descriptives,” Amanda Martin, attorney for the North Carolina Press Association, told the News and Observer. “More granular information like a zip code or race would not be considered personal health care information unless or until they can describe for me a community that is so small that identifying someone as Asian or Latina or white or black, in and of itself, becomes an identifier.”
Some said this demographic information would help people know if they might fit the profile and are a risk of contracting the disease.
John Wallace, an epidemiologist with the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, told the News and Observer this information does not give insight about where the infected persons have gone and who they have come into contact with and possibly infected.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service Chief Medical Officer Elizabeth Tilson told the News and Observer that her staff plans to release data to the public soon.
Durham, Chatham, Orange and Johnston Counties did not provide the requested information, the publication reported.
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