COVID death rates for Latinos have declined, but advocates say more help is needed

By FYH News Team

Published on June 27, 2022

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The success of vaccination campaigns has narrowed disparities in COVID death rates in California, especially for the Latino community, which has been disproportionately affected with coronavirus infection during the pandemic.

Since the state began tracking deaths in April 2020, more than 91,000 Californians have died from COVID-19 — approximately 230 deaths per 100,000 people — according to the Public Policy Institute of California, a policy research nonprofit with offices in San Francisco and Sacramento.

During the health crisis, Black and Latino communities suffered from higher infection and death rates than did white and Asian communities in California, according to multiple research reports. By August of 2020, during the early months of the pandemic, Latinos surpassed all other groups in death rates.

At the peak of pandemic deaths, in January 2021, about 55 Latinos per 100,000 adults were dying, compared to 45 deaths per 100,000 for Black people, 38 for whites, and 33 for Asians, the PPIC says. Approximately 40,000 Latino Californians have died in total due to COVID — a death rate around 20% higher than for white Californians.

“That disparities exist in health care, and it affects communities of color disproportionately, isn’t new,” said Shannon McConville, a research fellow at PPIC. “What the pandemic has laid bare is just how deep these inequities run.”

Different reasons are cited as to why the Black and Latino communities saw higher COVID death rates. For the Black community, an immense distrust in the medical system exists for good reason, McConville said. Studies suggest the medical establishment shows a disregard for the concerns of Black people in maternal care, and Black people are consistently under-treated for pain (and have to fight against the assumption that they have higher tolerance for pain), which invariably leads to ineffective care. Even now, more than two years into the pandemic, Black people in California continue to have higher COVID death rates — 3 deaths per 100,000 people as of June 1, compared to whites at 2.5, Latinos at 1.3 and Asians at 1.1.

For the Latino community, a mix of factors contributed to early COVID death rates, including a higher predominance of “essential” work that put people on the front lines and the likelihood of holding more than one job. Latinos also tend to work in close proximity with colleagues (in hospitality, restaurant and retail industries, including grocery stores, farm work, and other similar jobs) and often have more crowded living conditions.

The picture has improved considerably since those dire early days. The key was a host of public health efforts on the local, state and federal level, together with clinics and community groups coming together and educating people and setting up pop-up vaccination centers in undeserved communities, said Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga, the executive director of Ayudando Latinos A Soña, a nonprofit in Half Moon Bay that helps farm workers.

“A lot of Latinos, especially the working class, hold two to three jobs and their main concern is putting food on the table on a daily basis,” Hernandez-Arriaga said. “Taking time off work (for vaccinations) means lost wages so they have no choice but to consider their health as an after-thought.”

Setting up pop-up clinics in communities where these families live helped alleviate some burdens such as figuring out transportation and time needed in getting vaccinated, Hernandez-Arriaga said. But more needs to be done to support essential workers who are still having to put their lives on the line, she said.

“As some workers continue to work from home or come into the office a few times a week, essential workers have no choice but to show up everyday,” said Ivan Coraado-Vega, manager of the Latino Task Force in the Mission District. “We need better policies in place that ensure worker safety is top of mind.”

Not too far from the offices of the Latino Task Force, on 24th Street and Capp Street, is a vaccination site run by the San Francisco nonprofit Calle 24 Latino Cultural District. Last week the site saw a 33% positive rate case, up almost 10 percentage points from the week before.

“The rise in positivity rates among essential workers is worrisome for our community and the city’s economic recovery,” said Susana Rojas, the executive director of Calle 24.

“We need the right resources to ensure our essential workers are able to heal and take care of their families during their infectious stage so that we can all continue to work together to bring economic recovery to our city,” she added.

Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @shwanika

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