Latino communities in Georgia hit hard by COVID-19
As the coronavirus tears through the nation, in Georgia, Latinos continue to disproportionately feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Latinos or Hispanics, of any race, make up 9.8% of Georgia’s population, but they account for 13% of coronavirus cases in the state.
The following graphs show the racial breakdown of COVID-19 cases in Georgia. Georgia has reported a total of 420,601 cases of COVID-19 and 8,778 coronavirus-related deaths as of Nov. 29. With roughly 1 million residents, Latinos account for 51,144 of all cases in the state and 533 deaths as of Nov. 25, according to the COVID Racial Data Tracker.
The COVID Tracking Project flagged the group’s case proportion as suggestive of ethnic disparity due to three criteria: it is at least 33% higher than the Census Percentage of Population, it remains elevated whether the project includes or excludes cases with unknown race or ethnicity and it is based on at least 30 actual cases or deaths.
The high number of COVID-19 cases among Latino Georgians may be in part due to their overrepresentation in the essential workforce, including farm and poultry factory workers.
Back in April, hundreds of poultry workers in Hall County, in northeastern Georgia, tested positive for the novel virus. Hall County, with a population of 206,349 residents, has so far reported 12,352 cases of the coronavirus, and has in the past two weeks reported 419 cases per 100,000 residents. Hispanics or Latinos make up 9.4% of the population of the Hall County city of Gainesville, known as “Poultry Capital of the World,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
One out of every four Latino poultry workers were testing positive for COVID-19, according to local reports from June. Latinos make up 30% of the workforce in the meat and poultry industry but 56% of cases, according to Atlanta Magazine.
Meanwhile, in southern Georgia, cases have spiked due to infections among farmworkers, according to the nonprofit news organization Georgia Health News. In May, COVID-19 cases tripled in Echols County after a testing event held by the South Health District and the Migrant Farmworkers Clinic, Valdosta Daily Times reported. Latinos make up 24.6% of the population in Echols County, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Other factors that contribute to a high number of coronavirus cases among Latino communities include language barriers when accessing information on the virus and living in multigenerational households. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified discrimination, healthcare access and occupation as factors that contribute to increased COVID-19 risk among racial and ethnic “minority” groups.
Among initiatives to address the disparities affecting Latino communities in the state, Emory University teamed up in August with the Mexican Consulate in the capital city of Atlanta to test Latino residents for COVID-19. Other organizations, like Community Organized Relief Efforts, have conducted free testing in Georgia. The Latino Community Fund launched in March a COVID-19 relief fund to assist vulnerable communities, aiding in food distribution, testing and rent payments.
I have an interview scheduled on Monday with the executive director of the Georgia-based organization Hispanic Alliance, Vanesa Sarazua, and with a spokesperson for Coalición de Líderes Latinos, and later this week with the managing director of civic engagement and advocacy of the Georgia-based Latin American Association, Aixa Pascual.