Alanctar said the disparity is attributable to a number of factors that existed well before the pandemic.
“Such as lack of access to health care. A lot of folks in the community just don’t have access to health care,” Alcantar explained.
He also said many Latinos have no choice but to work in high-contact, high-risk, low-paying jobs. Alcantar also cited a lack of affordable housing.
“That in itself creates crisis where you have these families where you have multiple workers that have these high-contact, high-risk, low-paying jobs who are going out to different work sites and they’re coming back home every single day to a home you’re sharing with multiple households,” said Alcantar.
A USC study showing the disproportionate impact the coronavirus has had on the Latino community comes as no surprise to community leaders in San Diego.