{"id":5084229,"date":"2020-04-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlatinonews.com\/pandemic-exposes-stark-health-disparities-generations-in-the-making\/"},"modified":"2020-04-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T04:00:00","slug":"pandemic-exposes-stark-health-disparities-generations-in-the-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinonewsnetwork.com\/ctln\/2020\/04\/20\/pandemic-exposes-stark-health-disparities-generations-in-the-making\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Exposes Stark Health Disparities Generations In The Making"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By <em><a href=\"http:\/\/c-hit.org\/author\/katefarrish\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kate Farrish<\/a><\/em>, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/c-hit.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health I-Team&nbsp;<\/a><\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soon after Minerva Cuapio, a 48-year-old Mexican immigrant who lives in New Haven, was laid off from her job at a dry cleaner in March, she developed a headache, an itchy throat and a dry cough.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then came the shortness of breath that really worried her daughter, Izarelli Mendieta, 29, of New Haven.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While trying to get her mother care, she said, they were bounced from a doctor to the state\u2019s COVID-19 hotline to a telemedicine visit back to the hotline and then to a drive-through testing center and an emergency room visit. The family waited nine days for Cuapio\u2019s positive test results. Izarelli\u2019s father, Pedro Mendieta, 55, who lost a foot to diabetes, tested positive, too, but had mild symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Minerva Cuapio and Pedro Mendieta have recovered, but their daughter, who translates for her parents because they only speak Spanish, said if she could meet Gov. Ned Lamont, she would ask him to make the process easier for families like hers.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was scary and confusing,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cHonestly, if they didn\u2019t have me to navigate for them, I don\u2019t know how they would have done it on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Weeks into the pandemic\u2019s spread in Connecticut, state Department of Public Health (DPH)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/portal.ct.gov\/Coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data<\/a>&nbsp;show that African American and Hispanic residents are testing positive for COVID-19 in numbers greater than their share of the population and that black people are dying at disproportionately higher rates than whites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p> \u201cBy not making this a national imperative, the COVID-19 response has bared the ongoing issue of racial and ethnic disparities.\u201d <\/p><cite> Patricia Baker,  President and CEO of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cthealth.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Connecticut Health Foundation<\/a> <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DPH statistics lack demographic details for many COVID-19 cases. Still, as of Monday, in cases for which demographics are available, African Americans made up 18% of those who contracted the virus and 15% of those whose deaths were linked to the virus. They are 12% of Connecticut\u2019s population.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hispanic residents make up 16.5% of Connecticut\u2019s population, but 24% of those who have tested positive. They account for only 11% of those whose deaths have been linked to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The health disparities are stark in New Haven, where Mayor Justin Elicker has reported that African Americans make up 43% of those hospitalized and 44% of those who have died from the virus. Hispanic residents of the city account for 28% of hospitalizations and 19% of deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While several advocates and experts praised Lamont for his handling of the pandemic, some criticized the federal government for not acting sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBy not making this a national imperative, the COVID-19 response has bared the ongoing issue of racial and ethnic disparities,\u2019\u2019 said Patricia Baker, president and CEO of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cthealth.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Connecticut Health Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> <strong>Vulnerable Population<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts like Tekisha Dwan Everette, who have long witnessed higher rates of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and asthma in black and Hispanic communities aren\u2019t surprised by the apparent COVID-19 disparities. Everette, executive director of&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/hesct.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Equity Solutions<\/a>, has made a career of fighting health disparities because of inequity she faced. As a child in Hampton, Virginia, whose family was on Medicaid, Everette, now 43, said, her asthma was misdiagnosed for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everette wrote to Lamont on April 2, asking for a racial and ethnic breakdown of COVID-19 cases. She told him that structural racism and historic inequities mean that people of color are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions such as asthma and diabetes, work in low-wage jobs and live in densely populated neighborhoods<strong>.&nbsp;<\/strong>The pattern, in place for generations, has laid the groundwork for the susceptibility to COVID-19 among people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wizdom Powell, director of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/health.uconn.edu\/health-disparities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Health Disparities Institute<\/a>&nbsp;at UConn Health, worries that the disparities will get worse. She said covert and subconscious racial bias, even among well-intentioned health care providers, is likely affecting the testing and treatment of people of color. \u201cI often argue that racism is a virus that takes on a new host,\u201d she said. \u201cThe new host is COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heightened risks for African Americans and Hispanics are paired with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/uninsured\/state-indicator\/rate-by-raceethnicity\/?currentTimeframe=0&amp;sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lower rates<\/a>&nbsp;of health insurance&nbsp;coverage in comparison to whites, which can limit access to health care.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Baker also noted that the closing of many businesses is disproportionally hurting people of color, who generally earn less and have fewer savings than whites. They\u2019re also over-represented in jobs where they can\u2019t work from home, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey are the cleaning staff in the hospitals. They are my grocery clerks. They\u2019re delivering packages,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re vulnerable because they don\u2019t have the luxury of not showing up on the front lines of exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ensuring better health outcomes, both from COVID-19 and in general, means addressing those underlying inequalities.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Baker urged the state to report racial and ethnic breakdowns of who is getting tested for COVID-19. Her foundation would also like to see an independent review of the state\u2019s pandemic response to find ways to improve, she said, not as a \u201cgotcha.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wendell Potter, a former CIGNA vice president turned insurance industry whistleblower, urged states to expand testing in urban neighborhoods and called for government leaders to communicate in culturally sensitive ways.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Potter, who now advocates for reform as president of&nbsp;Businesses for Medicare for All,&nbsp;said substandard housing, high-deductible insurance plans and inadequate funding of community health centers might also be contributing to the COVID-19 disparities.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even before the pandemic, he said, \u201cIf you\u2019re not making a lot of money, you\u2019re not getting the health care you need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Praying\u2019 in New Haven<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Leo Lopez III, a National Clinical Scholars Program fellow at the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/medicine.yale.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yale School of Medicine<\/a>, blamed a lack of federal leadership for confusion and anxiety among many Americans, including people of color. He said misinformation might also be keeping some people of color from getting tested, and said he heard COVID-19 called \u201ca white man\u2019s disease\u201d at a community meeting in New Haven in early March.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis was a myth in the community,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pandemic is stressful for many of the low-income and uninsured people who receive community health and patient navigation services from&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/pa-nh.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Project Access New Haven<\/a>, said Lauren Kelley, the agency\u2019s director of grants and evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome of our patients have lost their jobs, and now they don\u2019t have food. They\u2019ve been asked to do telemedicine, and they don\u2019t have a smartphone,\u201d she said. \u201cSome think \u2018I may have symptoms,\u2019 and they don\u2019t know where to get tested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jackie Sanchez, the agency\u2019s lead patient navigator, who has assisted Izarelli Mendieta\u2019s father, Pedro, said her patients are practicing social distancing and wearing masks if they have to go out, but \u201cthey\u2019re worried, and you can hear it in their voices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eighty percent of the agency\u2019s clients are Hispanic, and Sanchez said many of them believe God will protect them.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re praying,\u201d she said. \u201cTheir faith is what is keeping them sane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Solutions Journalism Network has a national database tracking how COVID-19 is affecting people of color&nbsp;here.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Publisher\u2019s Note:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/ctln.local\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CTLN<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<\/em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/c-hit.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>c-hit.org<\/em><\/a><em>collaborate to best serve the Connecticut Hispanic, Latino community.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Haven family to Governor Ned Lamont: HELP immigrant families<\/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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