Figure 12. The age adjusted death rates due to COVID-19 per 100k on June 26, 2021. The table shows the death rates for race, ethnicity, and area poverty [19].
Out of the total mortality rate, Hispanic/Latinos and Black/African Americans make up the largest rates
The mortality rate steadily increases as % poverty increases
The mortality rate in areas with 30-100% area poverty is almost 3.5 times higher than areas with <10% area poverty
Figure 13. The age adjusted death rates due to COVID-19 per 100k on August 20, 2021. The table shows the death rates for race, ethnicity, and area poverty [19].
Compared to about 2 months ago, the mortality rates for race/ethnicity has not changed much
Hispanic/Latinos and Black/Africans still make up the largest mortality rates
30-100% area poverty still records the highest mortality rate
Figure 14. Immigrant participants at "I Am An American Day" program sponsored by the International Workers Order, 1945 [20].
Throughout the 20th century and accompanying the rise of immigration into Los Angeles, Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican Americans were labeled as “dirty,” and depicted as unhygienic [4]. The Los Angeles public health sector also demonstrates how race demarcates how one is viewed in society. “By systematically associating dirt, disease, and disorder with immigrant status, late-nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century city and county public health officials redefined citizenship in racialized and medicalized terms” [5]. These set boundaries imprinted in health officials’ institutions “through their writings, the policies they developed, and the people they trained” [6]. Throughout the pandemic, these instances of racist commentary towards minority groups have increased in scale and intensity. These racist views fabricate a negative stereotype of minorities and these groups are ultimately squashed beneath the foot of racist rhetoric and beliefs. Socially, minorities have gradually been seen as less and less equal to whites and will have to work even harder to be seen as equal again after the pandemic.
In particular, minorities such as the Latino and African American communities have faced continuous hardship and setbacks from COVID-19. The pandemic has targeted minority groups and exposed disparities related to COVID-19.
Figure 15. Two tables showing the confirmed COVID-19 deaths by race/ethnicity through April 26th, 2020 [22].
According to the LA Department of Public Health as of May 14th 2021, Hispanics/Latinos make up 627,071 COVID-19 cases and Whites make up only 129,037 COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County.
Hispanics/Latinos recorded almost 5 times more COVID-19 cases than whites.
According to a study published in July 2020 by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative...
“The highest COVID-19 case and death rates are observed in predominantly low-income communities within Los Angeles County, such as the city of Vernon and the City of Industry.” [7]
Furthermore, the study found that “from April 7 to May 29, the infection rates of Latinos increased after stay-at-home orders were lifted, making up 53% of total cases in Los Angeles County on May 29, although Latinos comprise near 49% of the county’s total population.” [7]
Figure 16. Workers in close proximity at a poultry processing plant in CA. [23].
Shelter-in-place guidelines have made it difficult for Hispanic or Latino families as they make up a large portion of the County’s residents and also live in heavily populated communities with little to no access to grocery stores and outdoor open areas [7].
A study conducted by UC Berkeley in May of 2020 explains “of those currently employed, 61% of whites are able to work at home, as compared to just 42% of Latinos and 53% of Black respondents” [8].
Therefore, Latinos and African Americans are much more likely to report that working in close proximity to others is a very serious problem they have faced during the pandemic.
“Nearly three times the number of Latinos and twice the number of Blacks are concerned about working in jobs that place them in close contact with others than are whites” [8]