COVID-19: The Impact on Essential Workers

Just taking a moment to reflect on the reports of how COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the underrepresented minority communities here in America. This virus has impacted all dimensions of diversity. However, it has particularly had an adverse impact on our Black, Latino and Native American communities in the densely populated areas of our northern cities and other regions. I do not disagree that health concerns like high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma put this population at risk. What I believe is being overlooked, and not talked about, is that these populations also make up the majority of the “Essential” workers that are serving our Nation every day. They are your transit drivers, janitors, sanitation and postal workers. They’re preparing our food at McDonald’s and Wendy’s, and often delivering it via Uber or Door Dash. They are also among the first responders, doctors, nurses and hospital staffers that are on the frontline of this fight against COVID-19.

Unfortunately, they are also from a segment of our population that has the least access to healthcare. The healthcare disparity in this and other underrepresented minority communities are well documented. They often don’t carry healthcare insurance, because they don’t earn enough to afford it. They work when they are ill, because they can’t afford to lose the income, or risk losing their position. Many of our working class, are the working poor. As the former Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin said, “our financial health is directly connected to our physical health”. The outbreak is more pronounced in these communities, because they are more exposed.

In a recent article in Vox, Dylan Scott, provides an excellent example of how this unfolds in the black community. Referencing data from 2017 report, Scott shares that Blacks and Latinos account for more than 60 percent of the employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in NYC. Blacks are 46 percent of the NYC's transportation workers versus 24 percent of its overall population. Why? Because they are representative of the segment of our population that are most likely to work in essential services, and in the staff positions of health care and hospitals (Devan Hawkins, the Guardian). Often these essential workers are on the frontline of our fight against COVID-19, yet, they can't afford access to the same care that they provide because they are not paid enough. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it well: “Health disparities have always existed for the African American community, but here again with the crisis how it's shining a bright light on how unacceptable that is...when you have a situation like the Coronavirus they are suffering disproportionately." He concludes, "When all this is over, and as we've said, it will end. We will get over Coronavirus, but there will still be health disparities, which we really do need to address in the African American community."(CSPAN, April 7, 2020)

Poverty is also a major contributor to the poor outcomes. The working poor are at additional risk due to these known economic and healthcare disparities. I am passionate about telling the whole story of this pandemic. It is true that the death toll has adversely affected the underrepresented communities. I think it is an injustice to associate this with just lifestyle and diet, only telling a part of the story. COVID-19 is a wake-up call to ensure everyone has equitable access to healthcare and living wages. We cannot ignore disparities that have existed for years. #tellitall #factsnotfear #weareinthistogether

"The views expressed in this article are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer."