Has COVID-19 ‘Run Amok’ in Los Angeles?
/
An article came to my attention explaining why COVID-19 has run amok in Los Angeles, asking readers to consider “why Los Angeles – and more specifically working-class Los Angeles – has among the highest rates of coronavirus infections in the nation.” It goes on to propose the densely populated areas of the low-income essential workers in Los Angeles, mostly Latinos, pose a serious threat to the spread of disease in the midst of a pandemic, citing high housing costs as the problem and proposing higher taxes on the rich to fund public housing and public subsidies as the solution, therefore decreasing population density.
In reading this article, I wanted to know, has COVID-19 truly ‘run amok’ in Los Angeles and how can we best support those most directly impacted by COVID-19? It’s not surprising that the highest count of COVID-19 cases are held by the states with the highest populations, California leading the charge with a population of 39.5 million and just over 3 million COVID-19 cases. But what is surprising is that none of the top five COVID-19 case states (California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois) rank anywhere near the top states whose COVID-19 case numbers account for more than 10% of their state population (North Dakota 12.7% and South Dakota 12.13%.) California, along with the other leading COVID-19 case states, actually fall in the middle of the 51 states with a case count reflecting 7-8% of their total population. (These percentages were pulled from data sourced from the CDC COVID Data Tracker, USAFacts.org, and U.S. Census Bureau reflective of data as of January 27th, 2021)
How about on the county level? L.A. County has the highest county population in the U.S. at about 10 million followed by Cook County, IL at 5 million, Data Sourced from CDC COVID Data Tracker, USAFacts.org, and U.S. Census Bureau and Harris County, TX at 4.7 million. But out of 3143 Counties, L.A. County comes in at 517th with COVID-19 cases accounting for 10.51% of the county population, that’s relatively low compared to Crowley County, CO ranked 1st at 29.14%. L.A. County is ranked even lower on COVID-19 death count as a percent of the county population at 1194thwith a percent of .15%. (These percentages were pulled from data sourced from the CDC COVID Data Tracker, USAFacts.org, and U.S. Census Bureau reflective of data as of January 27th, 2021).
Comparing data across the U.S., L.A. County is not a leading coronavirus impact zone when proportioned to the total population. This is a positive reflection on California’s efforts to curb the impact of Covid-19 and a bit of hope for the community. But if L.A. County is a lower impact zone, does that mean its most affected COVID-19 areas are the closer living accommodations of working-class families? One NBC report released a video interviewing a clinic in a predominantly Hispanic community, one of the areas in L.A. hit hardest by COVID-19. They identified Latinos were hospitalized 3x more than other communities, and death rates were twice as high as the rest of the population. Part of the high numbers can be attributed to multigenerational households, which increases the spread, and jobs that are deemed essential and are not able to be moved to remote working like grocery store clerks. According to California’s Department of Health, Latinos comprise about 40% of the state’s population but account for 55% of all COVID-19 cases and 46% of COVID-19 deaths (24% of cases are missing ethnic data and 2% of deaths are missing ethic data.)
High housing costs, causing multiple families to live together, can create a more potent spread environment. But one could argue that a slim job market with essential jobs being the easiest to access, and also the frontline to the COVID-19 spread, makes for a more threatening problem when there are no other options available to a working-class family. It’s either work the essential job, or not be able to make rent. It’s no secret California is one of the worst places in the U.S. for housing costs and making homes more affordable to the working class would be extremely beneficial to all. But traditionally, the Latino community is a deeply family orientated people who often share their households with extended families, and according to the Pew Research Center, multigenerational households is on the rise across the ethnic groups and is trending in growth.
So, if household size remains larger, what can be done to help the Latino community in L.A. that has been most impacted by COVID-19? The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC, values essential workers akin to active duty military personnel who are being asked to put their life on the line every day in industries that must continue work, unable to be socially distanced, in order that the rest of the nation can function, and propose their pay and benefits package should reflect their heightened duties and risks.
This figure from 2019 data shows the L.A. metropolitan area is comprised of 30-35% essential industry. This is prior to 2020’s new definition of ‘Essential Workers’ in which the Department of Homeland Security designated a list of essential infrastructure workers who “protect their communities, while ensuring continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security.” This definition is equivalent to the National Research Council's findings that “the nation’s military, particularly the Army, has a long tradition of providing assistance to local, state, and federal agencies in mitigating the effects of manmade and natural disasters; providing for the public safety; and restoring essential services” in their role of supporting Homeland Security.
With Essential Workers filling such a prestigious and prominent role in the response efforts to Covid-19, it is ever more important to treat them equally to our military response team and provide medical benefits and increased pay to reflect their public service during a time of Critical Response to a Global Pandemic.