COVID-19 and the Impact on Predominately Latinx/Immigrant Communities: Why the Surge in Cases will Continue to Rise in Chicago Latinx Communities

 

“During times of crisis, the United States has a history of amplifying discrimination against marginalized groups,” says Melissa Thompson, MSW, LCSW, a Clinical Assistant Professor at Dominican University, and that is no different with COVID-19.

Earlier in the year in April and May, two workers from the Bimbo Bakeries USA factory in Cicero, Illinois, died from SARS-CoV-2. The issue is that not only did the two workers died from COVID-19, but that Bimbo Bakeries USA also made the decision to not stop production for the well-being of their current employees or increase COVID-19 sanitization procedures. It was shared with some news outlets that when employees of Bimbo Bakeries USA were informed about the positive COVID-19 cases, they were given the option to continue to work or go home for the ten days recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) but without pay or termination, (Singh, 2020). Some were even FIRED for raising concerns about their safety in working under these conditions. With the pandemic in mind, the increase of families who are unemployed, bills to pay, and a fear about one’s citizenship status, staying home without pay or to lose your job is not an option for many in the Latinx community.

 Photo Credit: Portside.org, A caravan protest organized by Black Workers Matter at the Bimbo Bakery USA in Cicero, IL on April 14th, 2020, Paul Goyette.

 

Unfortunately, this is not the only company that has made choosing safety and health a difficult choice. Friends have shared that the companies they work for also make it hard for them to choose safety by removing the option of pay if they test positive for COVID-19 or been exposed to COVID-19 and choose to quarantine. Lia Rivera, a former employee of Whole Foods and former resident of Cicero, shared that colleagues have lost their jobs because they tested positive for COVID or quarantined twice and Whole Foods only recognizes quarantine once with pay, and anything passed the ten days where an employee misses work, they are terminated under the “no call or no show” policy in place. For others, like Martha Raygoza, a cleaner for the Harvard Company, she shares that she cannot afford to miss work because, “no one gets paid if we get COVID, imagine if we died  from it then what happens to my family?”

Cicero, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, is a predominately Latinx and undocumented community where there has been a surge of COVID-19 cases. It is a no-brainer that this deadly virus does not discriminate, but why is that non-white communities, like the Latinx ones in Chicago, have been disproportionately affect by the virus compared to their white counterparts? According to Dr. Marina Del Rios, director of social emergency medicine at the University of Illinois hospital in Chicago, in her interview with WTTW News she shares that specifically the Latino community have infection rates that are triple the rates that we see among our white neighbors, and double the rates we see among our Black neighbors, (2020). Below you can find a photo provided by WGN 9 News with the top five zip codes with the most cases of COVID-19 and you will see that all of them are predominately Latinx neighborhoods. A big concern in the Latinx community, is the economic downturn where people have lost or continue to lose their jobs. Now for people and families battling the virus, they have translated health care costs into economic issues, (WTTW News). Many do not have health insurance, specifically the undocumented population, who are also not allowed to receive any federal relief because of their citizenship status.

                  Photo Credit: WGN 9 News, 5 Chicago area zip codes in Latino neighborhoods see high cases of COVID-19.

“A lot of folks have lost their jobs, and by losing their jobs they’ve lost health care coverage, in addition to that a lot of Latinos who may not be U.S. citizens don’t qualify for a lot of the federal aid relief we have… So my concern is that because of the lack of health coverage people are waiting too late to seek medical care, and what that means is when we see them, it’s at a more complicated stage of the illness.”-Dr. Marina Del Rios, Director of Social Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago 

One can practice social distancing, wear proper PPE, and wash their hands frequently, but until the financial needs of the Latinx community can be met, fear from losing their jobs is removed, and the decision to choose health and safety over production can be easier, then can we possibly see a decrease in the surge of positive cases in the Latinx communities of Chicago. Latinx community leaders and professionals have created a website to assist the Latinx population in Illinois by providing resources under Illinois Unidos related to health, housing, food, and immigration in English and Spanish. They pass along helpful information like the photo below that is also found under their resources for undocumented groups Their website is www.illinoisunidos.com 

Here is also a link for those searching for food pantries in the Chicagoland Area: https://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/find-food/ (Links to an external site.). Various school districts like District 99 and 201 in Cicero, also provide meals for residents of Cicero with children who need them.

 

Muchisimas gracias,

Marisol Avila

 

 

 

References:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Duration of Isolation and Precautions for Adults with COVID-19. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Published on October 19, 2020. Accessed on December 1, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/duration-isolation.html (Links to an external site.).

Durate, L. (2020). 5 Chicago area zip codes in Latino neighborhoods see high cases of COVID-19. WGN 9 News. Published on November 13, 2020. Accessed on December 2, 2020. Retrieved from https://wgntv.com/news/coronavirus/5-chicago-area-zip-codes-in-latino-neighborhoods-see-high-cases-of-covid-19/ (Links to an external site.).

Myers, Q. (2020). How the COVID-19 Surge is Impacting Chicago’s Latino Communities. WTTW News, Health. Published on November 7, 2020. Accessed on December 1, 2020. Retrieved from https://news.wttw.com/2020/11/07/how-covid-19-surge-impacting-chicagos-latino-communities (Links to an external site.).

Singh, A. (2020). Bimbo Bakery Workers Allege Health Violations Amidst COVID-19 Crisis. Cicero Independiente. Published on April 7, 2020. Accessed on November 30, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.ciceroindependiente.com/english/bimbohealthviolations (Links to an external site.).

Singh, A. (2020). Two Bimbo Workers Dead, Others Fired After Raising COVID-19 Concerns at Cicero Factory. Portside.org. Published on May 31, 2020. Accessed on November 330, 2020 Retrieved from https://portside.org/2020-05-31/two-bimbo-workers-dead-others-fired-after-raising-covid-19-concerns-cicero-factory (Links to an external site.).

Univision. (2020). Protestan en contra de Bimbo por aparentes prácticas racistas en su fábrica en Cícero. Univision Chicago. Published on June 18, 2020. Accessed on December 1, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.univision.com/local/chicago-wgbo/protestan-en-contra-de-bimbo-por-aparentes-practicas-racistas-en-su-fabrica-en-cicero-video (Links to an external site.).