The Hispanic community has been disproportionately hurt by the coronavirus pandemic due to their jobs as essential workers and multigenerational living conditions, according to a panel of health experts at Duke University. "We're talking about people who, during this pandemic, have been essential in working in meatpacking plants and manufacturing. They have been involved in cleaning, maintenance, construction jobs," Dr. Viviana Martinez-Bianchi, a primary care doctor and associate professor in family medicine and community health at Duke, said during the discussion Wednesday. "While the rest of the country did quarantine or was able to stay home to flatten that curve ... the Latino community continued to go to work," Martinez-Bianchi said. "So what we're seeing is now all these people who have been essential workers, who worked without even the masking and the protection that was legally required during the time of their jobs, are now becoming infected by the virus,"Rosa Gonzalez-Guarda, an associate professor at the Duke University School of Nursing, agreed that Hispanics are getting infected at disproportionate rates by "simply going to work."

Source: CNN June 10, 2020 23:51 UTC