{"id":5084219,"date":"2020-05-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlatinonews.com\/ct-latinos-suffer-high-covid-19-infection-rates-as-their-jobs-force-public-interaction\/"},"modified":"2020-05-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T04:00:00","slug":"ct-latinos-suffer-high-covid-19-infection-rates-as-their-jobs-force-public-interaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/2020\/05\/06\/ct-latinos-suffer-high-covid-19-infection-rates-as-their-jobs-force-public-interaction\/","title":{"rendered":"CT Latinos suffer high COVID-19 infection rates as their jobs force public interaction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/author\/aradelat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Ana Radelat<\/em><\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CTMirror<\/a><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">.org<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Wanda Valdez-Jablonecki&nbsp;returns to her West Hartford home from her shift as a head cashier at the Forestville Stop &amp; Shop in Bristol she follows a very exacting routine.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valdez-Jablonecki, 41, takes off her shoes and sprays them with Lysol before she steps into the kitchen. Then she strips off her clothes, sprays the hospital mask she wore (one of four she owns) with disinfectant, placing the mask on a napkin to dry. She throws her gloves into a special trash can that is lined and has a lid, and uses disinfectant wipes to clean the license, credit card and Stop &amp; Shop card she carried to work in the small wallet that has replaced her purse.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then Valdez-Jablonecki wipes down her eye glasses and every single coin she may have acquired during the work day, putting them in a \u201cclean coin\u201d container. If she brought home groceries, she wipes them down, too. And no longer does Valdez-Jablonecki purchase fresh fruits, vegetables or meat that have been in the store\u2019s refrigerated section for more than a day.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, Valdez-Jablonecki leaves the kitchen to take a shower.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She\u2019s adopted the routine because, like many of the state\u2019s Latinos who are still employed in jobs that bring them in close contact with the public, Valdez-Jablonecki could pay a high price if she isn\u2019t vigilant during the coronavirus pandemic. Latinos have much higher infection rates than non-Hispanic whites, both in Connecticut and across the nation<strong>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy husband says \u2018You are so paranoid,\u2019\u201d Valdez-Jablonecki said. \u201cBut thank God, this routine has been working for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valdez-Jablonecki, who was born in Puerto Rico, is one of tens of thousands of Connecticut Latinos who are working essential \u201cfront-line\u201d service jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, staffing supermarkets and pharmacies, cleaning or providing direct care at nursing homes and hospitals and working as bus drivers or, like Valdez-Jablonecki\u2019s husband, security guards.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> The U.S. Labor Department says that in 2018, there were about 251,000 Latinos employed in Connecticut, making up about 14% of the state\u2019s labor force.&nbsp;Labor Department data&nbsp;also shows that the highest concentration of working Latinos in New England\u2013 about 32% \u2014 were employed in service jobs, the most of any racial or ethnic category.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> In addition to high infection rates, there\u2019s also early evidence Latinos are suffering from high levels of stress and psychiatric disorders, experts say.&nbsp;The contact with the public required by service jobs, as well as other factors like crowded living conditions and concerns about the health of themselves and their families, has resulted in anxiety and stress for this group. <\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p> <em>My husband says \u2018You are so paranoid.\u2019 But thank God, this routine has been working for me.<\/em> <\/p><cite> <em>Wanda Valdez-Jablonecki<\/em> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valdez-Jablonecki, who is asthmatic and considered high risk for the virus, said she was more stressed at the beginning of the pandemic, when she was working at a Stop &amp; Shop in New Britain and dealing with \u201cpanicky\u201d shoppers who were upset the store was out of toilet paper, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizers and other goods made scarce by the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Driving home sometimes, Valdez-Jablonecki said, she sometimes experienced panic attacks on her way home from work, thinking, \u201cOh my God, I\u2019m going to die!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of her customers: \u201cIt was all about them, not about us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valdez-Jablonecki, who has worked for the Stop &amp; Shop company for 23 years, said she took a week off from work and \u201cwas able to watch the news,\u201d which helped her put things in perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m more calmed down,\u201d Valdez-Jablonecki said, especially since Stop &amp; Shop has implemented new safety policies and provided its workers with masks and gloves.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said she appreciates customers who thank the cashiers for their service.&nbsp;\u201cIt motivates us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But she knows there are still those who don\u2019t consider their safety, including those who refuse to wear masks to shop in the store.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat hurts us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u2018Utterly stressed out\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Margarita Alegria, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School, said there has always been a disparity in the health outcomes of the nation\u2019s Hispanics during pandemics, citing their greater death and infection rate during the 1918-19 waves of Spanish flu, which killed at least 675,000 in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New York, and other states, have released data showing Latinos are not only being infected with coronavirus at higher rates than non-Hispanic whites, they are dying of COVID-19 at higher rates, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> But the Connecticut Department of Public Health has released data showing that the state\u2019s Latinos are dying here at lower rates than non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans, who have the highest death rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DPH spokesman Av Harris said the anomaly in the data may be a result of the Latino community\u2019s younger, healthier population \u2014 or the result of a lack of information. The state has race and ethnicity information for only about half of those they know have been infected and\/or have died.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alegria said more Latinos are becoming infected with coronavirus because they don\u2019t often have the option of working from home or the luxury of quitting a job they fear is putting them in harm\u2019s way.&nbsp;\u201cTheir jobs are the only jobs available and they need them to support their families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe don\u2019t have a complete picture,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valdez-Jablonecki said she has come to terms with the risks she takes working six days a week at Stop &amp; Shop. \u201cBut I would much rather be home,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There may be mental health disparities when it comes to the Latino population, too.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alegria said surveys of the nation\u2019s Latinos show that about 20% reported their mental health has been negatively affected by the pandemic and about 35% say they are depressed.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPsychological stress tends to be higher in low-income people,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re hearing the anxiety is growing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carlos Rivera, director of behavioral health services at the Hispanic Health Council, runs an out-patient clinic that serves about 200 of the state\u2019s very low-income Latinos for free or on a sliding fee scale in the greater New Haven area.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said his clients, who tend to only speak Spanish, are anxious about the pandemic for several reasons, including the concern they aren\u2019t receiving enough information about the coronavirus emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p> <em>Psychological stress tends to be higher in low-income people. And we\u2019re hearing the anxiety is growing.<\/em><\/p><cite> <em>Margarita Alegria, Harvard Medical School professor<\/em> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rivera said the acuity and level of distress felt by his patients has grown. Other, higher income Latinos have been affected, too. \u201cOur population is utterly stressed out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, many Latinos in the state aren\u2019t seeking help because of a cultural stigma against mental illness, Rivera said, or because they are uninsured or worried that using government-run mental health services would make them \u201cpublic charges\u201d and, under new immigration rules, hurt their chances for a green card or citizenship.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pandemic has also upended the traditionally strong Latino family structure with forced separations and the inability to visit a relative who is sick \u2013 or even obtain information about hospitalized relatives.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Valdez-Jablonecki, one of 12 children, said she is closest to her eldest sister and a brother, who is ill with cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She liked to \u201chang out\u201d with her older sister whenever she could and spend time on Sunday with her brother.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI can\u2019t do that now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ctmirror.org\/2020\/04\/29\/ct-latinos-suffer-high-covid-19-infection-rates-as-their-jobs-force-public-interaction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CT Latinos suffer high COVID-19 infection rates as their jobs force public interaction<\/a> was first published by CTMirror. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> <em>Publisher\u2019s Note:&nbsp;CTLN&nbsp;and CTMirror collaborate to best serve the Connecticut Hispanic, Latino community.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ana Radelat, CTMirror.org When Wanda Valdez-Jablonecki&nbsp;returns to her West Hartford home from her shift as a head cashier at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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