How Latinos Are Being Impacted By COVID-19

The coronavirus has affected so many people all over the world, one specific group that has been drastically impacted is the Latinx community. Latinos take up a large percentage of COVID-19 cases due to the lack of education on the healthcare system. People of color have suffered from poor healthcare for many years before the pandemic. Although the pandemic has harmed the overall health of the Latinx community more than ever since many have lost their job and can no longer afford healthcare. Another issue is the language barrier between English and Spanish which gets in the way of how informed one can be on all subjects including health. 

Many Latinos living in the U.S. don’t speak English which makes it hard for them to educate themselves and have the ability to advocate for themselves. At the beginning of the pandemic, a large number of Latinos didn’t believe in the virus, but this was because they weren’t being informed of the virus the same way English speakers were. They weren’t able to watch/read the news like everyone else. This issue prevented the community from taking proper safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus. A lot of parties were attended without masks and social distancing. As a result Latinos now make up 30% of the COVID-19 death rate which is a pretty large amount. 

The Latinx community is one of the many ethnic groups that lacks healthcare coverage. There are many reasons why Latinos don’t have the strongest health. Some Latinos don’t know how to apply for health insurance, some don’t have a stable job that provides healthcare, and some simply can’t afford any healthcare. Even some states don’t have strong healthcare benefits to help people maintain good wellness. For example, “Texas is one of the states that did not expand Medicaid to provide more access to health care for its population under the Affordable Care Act.” Texas’s decision to not expand Medicaid impacted primarily Latinos as they take up a greater amount of the population. In some ways, this issue has no one to blame but the government for making healthcare so difficult for anyone who doesn’t speak English to access.

Sometimes people question how educated the Latinx community is about the virus. This is due to the fact that many Latinos have a very old fashion perspective of life which makes it hard for them to believe in something like a virus. I wouldn’t say they are uneducated, but more of that they were raised to not believe anything that they haven’t physically seen. Though it took many people a long time to come to terms with the extent of the coronavirus, the percentage of infected Latinos has decreased. Which means they are starting to learn how to properly stay safe during this time. 

Overall, the government should consider making something like healthcare more accessible to people of color. There will always be a struggle to find resources, especially amongst POC because of the lack of support. I’m glad to see more Latinos following COVID-19 restrictions and trying to decrease the spread of the virus. I can only hope things will start to get better for not just Latinos, but everyone.