Latinx communities in our state continue to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Two weeks ago, the Department of Health released data revealing that 44% of all COVID-19 cases in WA state were Latinxs. This number is even more alarming since Latinx individuals comprise only 13% of the state’s population. In addition, the Department of Health data found that the race/ethnicity of 27% of tested individuals is unknown. Yet, media coverage is distressingly silent about this reality, which encourages a lack of action that is urgently warranted.
The lack of attention to this crisis impacting the Latinx population in our state is systemic. On July 3, for example, the Seattle Times reported on the high prevalence of COVID-19 cases in the Yakima region, a virus hotspot in our state and country. Fifty percent of Yakima County’s population is Latinx, however, Latinxs were only mentioned briefly at the end of the article. This insufficient reporting on the disproportionate rates of Latinx individuals testing positive for the deadly virus is a concerning pattern. Such practices contribute to behaviors such as a reluctance of Health Districts across the state to recognize the diversity of the populations they are responsible for serving. Systemic racism also contributes to these patterns of making invisible the COVID-19 crisis impacting marginalized communities.
As Latinx educators and researchers, we cannot remain silent to the grave injustice and harm being perpetrated in failing to acknowledge the risks and harmful impact of COVID-19 upon Latinxs, many of whom are considered essential workers at the cost of their safety and health as well as the health of their family members. This failure is an outrage. This public health crisis requires immediate and dramatic action.
Towards this end, the Latino Center for Health is taking timely action in a three-fold manner: 1) funding and initiating a rigorous survey study of the impact of COVID-19 on rural and urban Latinxs in our state; 2) collaborating on several COVID-19-focused grant efforts with other researchers and community organizations to enhance testing and examine the impact of the virus on our state’s most vulnerable populations from a health systems perspective; and 3) organizing a webinar to highlight the impact across our state and to mobilize needed action. In addition, the Center’s website is making available a variety of resources for community members, researchers and others interested in learning more about COVID-19 in the Latinx population.
Latinx communities and other communities of color bear the burden of this invisibility to society. The lack of access to culturally responsive health providers and services, the lack of admission of Latinx individuals to medical schools, and employers’ lack of accountability to ensure the safety and health of their workers persist yet no alarm is raised. 44% means that Latinxs are overrepresented by 3.4 times among COVID-19 cases in our state compared with Whites who are half as likely to test positive based on their representation in the state’s population. If this situation were reversed, would our government, public health agencies and the media be similarly slow to respond and unconcerned?
In the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “If you don’t admit it, you can’t correct it.” We call upon the Seattle Times, all media sources in the state and leadership to elevate awareness of the urgent need for action. We call to increase messaging in English and Spanish, to expand access to timely testing to include evenings and weekends and the use of mobile test sites. We also call to increase our state’s capacity for rapid culturally and linguistically sensitive contact tracing and provide support for quarantine once a diagnosis is confirmed. Awareness and funding of effective practices of messaging, enforcement of workplace safety practices, and testing are crucial to flatten the curve and promote the health of Latinxs and all residents of our state.
[1] https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020COVID19/DataDashboard