Congress to Help Minorities Hit Hardest by Coronavirus

  A congressional hearing last week on how to help minorities hit hardest by coronavirus carries special significance for the Washington, D.C. area as local governments lift their stay-at-home orders.

   African Americans and Latinos are dying or losing their jobs in some locations at almost twice the rate of the white population, according to recent government statistics. 

   African Americans represent 46 percent of Washington’s population but 77 percent of the coronavirus victims.

   The House Ways and Means Committee hearing coincides with proposals in Congress for a third round of the emergency response package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

   It provides enhanced unemployment benefits, direct payments to individuals, loans to small businesses, delays and modifications of taxes owed and increased support for health care providers.

   Ibram X. Kendi, an American University history professor, said that as the higher infection rate among African Americans and Latinos first became evident, many Americans incorrectly believed minority populations were not taking coronavirus seriously.

   “We should be asking, why are Black and Latino people less likely to be working from home; less likely to be insured; less likely to live in unpolluted neighborhoods,” he testified to the Senate committee.

   Alicia Fernandez, an internist at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, said the need for some Americans to leave home for work is a primary contributor to the spread of coronavirus.

   She testified two days before Virginia and the District of Columbia ended their shutdowns that kept many workers at home. They are returning to many of the jobs the Centers for Disease Controls warns are most likely to lead to infection.

   Fernandez based her conclusion on a study by her hospital when the staff realized a disproportionate share Latinos were getting sick. Eighty-three percent of the coronavirus hospitalizations were for Latinos, compared with the usual 35 percent for other health problems.

   “Nearly all were working despite the shelter in place order,” Fernandez testified.

   Their most common professions were restaurant and janitorial workers.

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