Los Angeles Latino COVID-19 Deaths Skyrocket 1,000% Since November

The Hispanic community in the United States has suffered the attacks of the COVID-19 pandemic in a disproportionate way compared to the white population of the country.

But the latest death toll in Los Angeles County, California, is causing local officials a sense of "horror."

In this densely populated area, Latino deaths from coronavirus have increased by 1,000% since the pandemic began to rage again in November, health officials said.

The COVID-19 death rate for Latino residents in the county is

nearly triple that of white residents

.

Residents of wealthy neighborhoods are also dying less than those of poor neighborhoods. 

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Poor Latino neighborhoods, where it is common for families to live in overcrowded conditions, as well as the fact that many are essential workers who cannot afford to get through the health crisis at home, are two of the conditions that have contributed the most to the coup.

The health authorities think that those workers who have to go out to work in markets, plots and factories are becoming infected and are bringing the virus to their homes.

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"Our Latinx community, in fact, is suffering the worst of this pandemic," Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County director of public health, said this week.

“While every race and ethnic group in LA County has seen a horrendous increase in death rates, the gap between the experiences of those in our Latinx community and everyone else is downright terrifying,” Ferrer said.

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To get a better idea of ​​the dramatic increase in deaths, in November the number of Latino residents in the county who died daily from COVID-19, on average, over a two-week period, was 3.5 per 100,000.

The latest data shows how that number has skyrocketed to

40 deaths per 100,000

Latino residents.

In the midst of the crisis, the authorities are also beginning to worry about the access that these minorities will have to vaccines, the most effective tool that exists in the country against the coronavirus.

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Although their efforts have been essential to keeping the economy running, essential Latino workers in meat plants, farm plots - and other areas where this community has a broad presence - are not among the priority groups for immunization.

Los Angeles City Council Speaker Nury Martinez said the government should provide aid to the most affected communities in Los Angeles as quickly as possible, specifically talking about vaccines and the problem of inequity.

 "If we don't focus on equity now,

I will tell you who is going to get the vaccine - it will be the people who have the luxury of staying home

and sending their children to private schools," Martinez said.

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"And the people who will not receive the vaccine will be the babysitters, the housemaids, the housekeepers and the gardeners, the people who carry our groceries, who prepare our food every day, who deliver our mail and clean our streets", he warned.

At a time when three variants of the coronavirus - more contagious than the parent virus - are circulating in the United States, vaccination is still lagging.

About 2 million of the more than 10 million residents of Los Angeles County are eligible to receive the vaccine at this time.

However, every person who receives the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine needs two doses, and the county has not received enough to complete the process for all who are eligible. 

With information from the Los Angeles Times.