The head of the Missouri health department says he's directing medical professionals to provide racial data about patients who become sick or die from the new coronavirus.
Health director Randall Williams said Wednesday that about 40% of providers have not been supplying that information to the state. So far, no racial data has been posted on the state's website, though it does show cases by age.
Numbers from elsewhere show that black Americans have died from the virus at a disproportionately high rate. Some black lawmakers raised concerns Wednesday about the lack of data from Missouri about how the coronavirus is affecting racial groups.
