Categories
Uncategorized

Latinx people are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in Colorado.

After suspecting that she had caught the coronavirus, Juliette, an employee at the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, who did not wish to reveal her surname, went to get tested for the coronavirus. Her results came back negative. A few days later, she ended up in the hospital because of the virus, and so did her dad.

Job loss, evictions, lack of access to mental health, and wellness support. These are all realities and consequences of COVID-19 for many families across the United States. Yet evidence shows that the virus continues to excessively affect people of color.

Data suggests that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Latinx communities across the country. An average Latinx person is three times more likely to contract the deadly virus compared to a white person. The disproportionate rates of infection have been particularly obvious in the state of Colorado.

For Juliette and her Latinx colleagues at the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, this does not come as a surprise.

“She works part-time for us, but she also works part-time at a restaurant,” said Rachel Griego, the Vice President of Philanthropy for the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado. “she lives with her parents and her brother.”

Even though Latinx people make up an estimated 22% of the population in Colorado, they make up 38% of the total coronavirus cases in the state. The graph below shows that cases among Latinx people in Colorado are comparable to cases among White people who make up to 87.1% of the population.

Cases are especially high in Latinx communities in Denver, where they make up over 52% of total cases. Latinx deaths are also disproportionately higher in Colorado, as indicated in the graph below.

Why cases and death numbers are so high amongst Latinx people can be broken down to three main reasons: Being essential workers, cultural and language barriers, and existing inequalities which are exacerbated through the pandemic.

Latinx people are more likely to be essential workers 

The high number of COVID-19 cases in Latinx communities could be attributed to the minimal work from home opportunities many Latinx people have. According to UnidosUS, The median household income for Latinx families in Colorado is almost $20,000 less than the state median of $71,953 at only $55,206 and the poverty rate for Latinx people sits at 12.9%, in comparison to the state average of 6.2%.

“It definitely exacerbated a lot of the disparities that already exist in the communities,” said Griego. “It sort of lifted that veil that had been on for a very long time, and has been where people know there are issues and challenges but don’t really know them until they start seeing these large numbers come out.”

According to a survey conducted by Latino Decisions, more than 45% of Latinx workers in Colorado had experienced a cut in work hours or pay because of the coronavirus and 62% of respondents were worried about someone in their family or themselves losing their jobs.

“Economic assistance was the main need at first,” said Krueger. “People were losing their jobs and not being able to get funding for anything.”

According to the Pew Research Centre, an estimated 8 million Hispanic people in the United States were employed in essential services, including restaurants, hotels, and the service sector that put them at higher risk of job loss.

“A lot of them are what you call essential workers,” said Griego. “We’re talking about the people who are still continuing to put food on the table for our communities, whether they’re farmworkers or whether they are retail operators.”

Griego says that many people in the Latino community do not have the luxury to work from home, and are more likely to be exposed to getting COVID-19 due to their occupation.

“They’re not in those types of occupations that allow them to be at home and not to be exposed,” Griego said. “They’re also more likely to take public transportation, there were probably people who were getting COVID as a result of having to take the bus or having to take the metro, they had to make money.”

Cultural differences and language barriers

Another factor that plays a role in a large amount of COVID-19 cases among the Latinx community in Colorado can be related to their number of people who live in one household.

“Our community generally lives in multigenerational households. So you have young children, and you also have older adults in the same house,” said Griego. “It’s economic reasons, but a lot of it is just cultural reasons as well.”

A survey by Latino Decisions shows that the majority of Latinx Coloradan residents do not trust English media on information related to the Coronavirus. Griego believes that the existing messaging about COVID-19 has not been effective with the Latinx community and that it is important that the English speaking Latinx community is working together to make messaging more impactful for people who may have a language barrier.

“You’re trying to talk to someone and it’s not resonating with them, It’s a white person telling me to do X, Y and Z, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t trust you,” Griego said.

Griego believes that there is a lot of misinformation within the community about the coronavirus, which may have contributed to the high amount of cases.

“They don’t think that they’re going to get it, there’s misinformation out there through social media and other things,” Griego said. “There’s also cultural values and religion, I think that there’s some deep-rooted things that we fall back on, in terms of remedies and keeping our families safe, and for a pandemic and how COVID spreads, it just doesn’t work.”

Currently, the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado actively working on resources and ways to minimize the misinformation and send correct messaging on the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We worked to do some culturally responsive lists and making sure that people felt comfortable with where you send them to seek out these resources,” Krueger said. “We know everyone is struggling, but if you go somewhere where the person can’t even speak the same language as you, you’re not going to have a good experience.

When we look at deaths by ethnicity, we see a larger number of Hispanic deaths, as shown in the graph below.

Although a high number of White deaths are also shown, according to Marisa Krueger, the Coordinator of Evaluation and Events at the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, many Latinx people identify as being White instead of Latinx which can also be confusing for the data.

“So there’s the white, non-Hispanic, and then there are the Hispanic all races and so that really muddles the data for Latinos as a whole,” Krueger said. “Our data gets a little muddled because a lot of Hispanic folks still identify as white as their main identifier.”

How COVID exacerbated the technical divide

A report by Colorado Future Centre estimated that there are almost 55,000 school-aged children in Colorado who do not have reliable internet connections in their homes, and more than 75% of them are from a Hispanic background. Many of these school-aged children, also have parents who work in companies that do not allow them to work from home. An estimated 57% of these parents are considered essential workers.

An executive order by Governor Polis asked all schools in Colorado to close on March 18th. Although schools had the opportunities later to open up, many districts had already decided to move their teaching completely online.

“So we have a single lady that was fired from her job in June, she couldn’t even have her kids go to school because she couldn’t pay the rent and she lives in a mobile home,” said Maria Gonzalez, the founder of the Adelante Community Development Team. “They shut down the internet, so no communication, and she could not afford to have a cell phone.”

In response to these technical barriers, Colorado state filed a petition which urged Federal Communications Commission to waive restrictions on federally funded broadband access in student homes. The petition hoped to extend the access of internet connectivity to student’s homes.  Colorado’s Commissioner of Education, Katy Anthes, also announced in September that the state will invest $2 million in coronavirus relief funds to ensure that all students have access to the necessary resources which will allow them to study from home.

The state is also working closely with large telecommunications companies, to provide a free hotspot for families of students. T-mobile is working on providing 100GB of data a year for low-income families which will be available for the next five years.

For Gonzalez, she believes that the most important thing the state can do is to include Latinx people in decision making and conversations.

“People are making decisions where we are not a part of, and we’re not being acknowledged, we’re not being validated. It’s time we have a seat on the table and talks about it,” she said. “As members of the community, we contribute, we pay taxes we work, there is so much we contribute to, but where is our support?”

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie Revised Story

 

Why Latinx people are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in Colorado.

Job loss, evictions, lack of access to mental health, and wellness support. These are all realities and consequences of COVID-19 for many families across the United States. Yet evidence shows that the virus continues to excessively affect people of color. 

Data suggests that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Latinx communities across the country. An average Latinx person is three times more likely to contract the deadly virus compared to a white person. The disproportionate rates of infection have been particularly obvious in the state of Colorado. 

Even though Latinx people make up an estimated 22% of the population in Colorado, they make up 38% of the total coronavirus cases in the state. The graph below shows that cases among Latinx people in Colorado are comparable to cases among White people who make up to 87.1% of the population.

Cases are especially high in Latinx communities in Denver, where they make up over 52% of total cases. Latinx deaths are also disproportionately higher in Colorado, as indicated in the graph below.

When we look at deaths by ethnicity, we see a larger number of Hispanic deaths, as shown in the graph below.

According to Marisa Krueger, the Coordinator of Evaluation and Events at the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, many Latinx people identify as being White.

“So there’s the white, non-Hispanic, and then there are the Hispanic all races and so that really muddles the data for Latinos as a whole,” Krueger said. “Our data gets a little muddled because a lot of Hispanic folks still identify as white as their main identifier.”

Latinx people are more likely to be essential workers 

The high number of COVID-19 cases in Latinx communities could be attributed to the minimal work from home opportunities many Latinx people have. According to UnidosUS, The median household income for Latinx families in Colorado is almost $20,000 less than the state median of $71,953 at only $55,206 and the poverty rate for Latinx people sits at 12.9%, in comparison to the state average of 6.2%.

“It definitely exacerbated a lot of the disparities that already exist in the communities,” said Rachel Griego, the Vice President of Philanthropy for the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado. “It sort of lifted that veil that had been on for a very long time, and has been where people know there are issues and challenges but don’t really know them until they start seeing these large numbers come out.”

According to a survey conducted by Latino Decisions, more than 45% of Latinx workers in Colorado had experienced a cut in work hours or pay because of the coronavirus and 62% of respondents were worried about someone in their family or themselves losing their jobs.

“Economic assistance was the main need at first,” said Krueger. “People were losing their jobs and not being able to get funding for anything.”

According to the Pew Research Centre, an estimated 8 million Hispanic people in the United States were employed in essential services, including restaurants, hotels, and the service sector that put them at higher risk of job loss. 

“A lot of them are what you call essential workers,” said Griego. “We’re talking about the people who are still continuing to put food on the table for our communities, whether they’re farmworkers or whether they are retail operators.”

Griego says that many people in the Latino community do not have the luxury to work from home, and are more likely to be exposed to getting COVID-19 due to their occupation.

“They’re not in those types of occupations that allow them to be at home and not to be exposed,” Griego said. “They’re also more likely to take public transportation, there were probably people who were getting COVID as a result of having to take the bus or having to take the metro, they had to make money.”

Cultural differences and language barriers

Another factor that plays a role in a large amount of COVID-19 cases among the Latinx community in Colorado can be related to their number of people who live in one household. 

“Our community generally lives in multigenerational households. So you have young children, and you also have older adults in the same house,” said Griego. “It’s economic reasons, but a lot of it is just cultural reasons as well.”

A survey by Latino Decisions shows that the majority of Latinx Coloradan residents do not trust English media on information related to the Coronavirus. Griego believes that the existing messaging about COVID-19 has not been effective with the Latinx community and that it is important that the English speaking Latinx community is working together to make messaging more impactful for people who may have a language barrier.

“You’re trying to talk to someone and it’s not resonating with them, It’s a white person telling me to do X, Y and Z, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t trust you,” Griego said. 

Griego believes that there is a lot of misinformation within the community about the coronavirus, which may have contributed to the high amount of cases.

“They don’t think that they’re going to get it, there’s misinformation out there through social media and other things,” Griego said. “There’s also cultural values and religion, I think that there’s some deep-rooted things that we fall back on, in terms of remedies and keeping our families safe, and for a pandemic and how COVID spreads, it just doesn’t work.”

Currently, the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado actively working on resources and ways to minimize the misinformation and send correct messaging on the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We worked to do some culturally responsive lists and making sure that people felt comfortable with where you send them to seek out these resources,”  Krueger said. “ We know everyone is struggling, but if you go somewhere where the person can’t even speak the same language as you, you’re not going to have a good experience. 

How COVID exacerbated the technical divide

A report by Colorado Future Centre estimated that there are almost 55,000 school-aged children in Colorado who do not have reliable internet connections in their homes, and more than 75% of them are from a Hispanic background. Many of these school-aged children, also have parents who work in companies that do not allow them to work from home. An estimated 57% of these parents are considered essential workers. 

An executive order by Governor Polis asked all schools in Colorado to close on March 18th. Although schools had the opportunities later to open up, many districts had already decided to move their teaching completely online.

“So we have a single lady that was fired from her job in June, she couldn’t even have her kids go to school because she couldn’t pay the rent and she lives in a mobile home,” said Maria Gonzalez, the founder of the Adelante Community Development Team. “They shut down the internet, so no communication, and she could not afford to have a cell phone.”

In response to these technical barriers, Colorado state filed a petition which urged Federal Communications Commission to waive restrictions on federally funded broadband access in student homes. The petition hoped to extend the access of internet connectivity to student’s homes.  Colorado’s Commissioner of Education, Katy Anthes, also announced in September that the state will invest $2 million in coronavirus relief funds to ensure that all students have access to the necessary resources which will allow them to study from home. 

The state is also working closely with large telecommunications companies, to provide a free hotspot for families of students. T-mobile is working on providing 100GB of data a year for low-income families which will be available for the next five years. 

For Gonzalez, she believes that the most important thing the state can do is to include Latinx people in decision making and conversations.

“People are making decisions where we are not a part of, and we’re not being acknowledged, we’re not being validated. It’s time we have a seat on the table and talks about it,” she said. “As members of the community, we contribute, we pay taxes we work, there is so much we contribute to, but where is our support?”

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie’s Draft

School-aged children from Latinx families are disproportionately affected by the technology gap as COVID-19 shuts down schools in Colorado.

Job loss, evictions, lack of access to mental health, and wellness support. These are all realities and consequences of COVID-19 for many families across the United States. Yet evidence shows that the virus continues to excessively affect people of color. 

Data suggests that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Latinx communities across the country. On average, Latinx people are three times more likely to contract the deadly virus compared to a white person. The disproportionate rates of infection have been particularly obvious in the state of Colorado. 

Even though Latinx people make up an estimated 22% of the population in Colorado, they make up to 38% of the total coronavirus cases in the state. The graph below shows that cases among Latinx people in Colorado are comparable to cases among White people who make up to 87.1% of the population.

Cases are especially high in Latinx communities in Denver, where they make up to over 52% of total cases.

The high number of COVID-19 cases in Latinx communities could be attributed to the minimal work from home opportunities many Latinx people have, and not having access to a steady internet connection.

An executive order by Governor Polis asked all schools in Colorado to close on March 18th. Although schools had the opportunities later to open up, many districts had already decided to move their teaching completely online. 

A report by Colorado Future Centre estimated that there are almost 55,000 school-aged children in Colorado who do not have reliable internet connections in their homes, and more than 75% of them are from a Hispanic background. Many of these school-aged children, also have parents who work in companies that do not allow them to work from home. An estimated 57% of these parents are considered essential workers.

In response to these educational barriers, Colorado state filed a petition which urged Federal Communications Commission to waive restrictions on federally funded broadband access in student homes. The petition hoped to extend the access of internet connectivity to student’s homes. 

Colorado’s Commissioner of Education, Katy Anthes, announced in September that the state will invest $2 million in coronavirus relief funds to ensure that all students have access to the necessary resources which will allow them to study from home. 

The state is also working closely with large telecommunications companies, to provide a free hotspot for families of students. T-mobile is working on providing 100GB of data a year for low-income families which will be available for the next five years. 

Many not-for-profit organizations, such as RISE Colorado, are also focusing on initiatives which that will support families with school-aged children who do not have access to educational resources during this uncertain time.

Note: I have scheduled interviews with RISE Colorado and a student who has been affected by the pandemic this week. This story is a deviation from my original pitch and is focused more specifically on how COVID has widened the technology gap for students in Colorado. 

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie Liu’s Revised Pitch

Pitch

COVID 19 cases in Colorado seem to have disproportionately affected Latinx communities – especially when related back to the population per capita. Latinx people make up only 21% of the entire population in Colorado.

A possible reason that this is the case is that Latinx people tend to live in households with multiple people. Further, populations which usually have a lower median household income, or live in communities which may not have reliable access to healthcare, are also more likely to be affected by the coronavirus.

According to the Latino Leadership Institute, the median age of Latinos in Colorado is 27 compared to 42 for non-Hispanic whites, an age significantly younger and supposedly less susceptible to suffering serious COVID-19 consequences.

I would examine why COVID-19 has infected such a large amount of people in the Latinx community in Colorado, and examine how many cases translated into deaths, and how many people recovered.

I would also examine the age of the people who have died to see if it is mainly with an older population, or if a younger Latinx population is also being affected.  I am curious about how the virus may have been transmitted – is it work-related or the larger families? – Would look at wage data and the total number of people in the household.

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie Liu Data Sketch 3

Pitch

In a state that is 93% white, it is unsurprising that the largest death amount is the white population. What intrigues me is the death of a large number of people whose race is unknown. I would be eager to know why the race data is uncategorized, was it poor data collection? Were people unwilling to identify their family members’ race? I would look more deeply into exactly where the most amount of deaths occurred for these uncategorized races – is there a specific demographic of people who live in the area? Who were the hospitals involved?

Potential Sources

United States Census Data on New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Uniform Healthcare Facility Discharge

Division of Public Health Services

Department of Information Technology

The New Hampshire Hospital Association

Length

Roughly 600 words

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie Liu Data Sketch 2

Pitch

Colorado saw a huge spike in deaths in both Hispanic and Non-Hispanic communities. Would be interesting to examine the cause of these deaths, and the proportion of deaths in comparison to the Hispanic community in the state. I would be interested in knowing what lead to the spike in deaths – was it the lack of hospital beds and ventilators? Was it the state unwilling to close down shops and businesses? This will give a better idea of examining the root cause of the spike in deaths, and whether or not it was handled appropriately afterward.

Potential Sources

Colorado Hospital Association

United States Census Data on Colorado

Colorado Department of Health and Environment

Colorado State Emergency Centre

Colorado Health Institute

Length 

Roughly 1000 words

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie Liu Data Sketch 1

Pitch

COVID 19 cases in Colorado seem to have disproportionately affected Latinx communities – especially when related back to the population per capita. Latinx people make up only 21% of the entire population in Colorado. It would be interesting to examine why COVID has infected such a large amount of people in the Latinx community in this state, examine how many of these cases translated into deaths, and how many of these cases were recovered. Would also look into how the virus may have been transmitted – is it work-related? Larger families? – Would look at wage data and the total number of people in the household.

Potential Sources

United States Census Data on Colorado

Colorado Department of Health and Environment

Colorado State Emergency Centre

Colorado Health Institute

Length 

Roughly 800 words

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie’s Covid Tracking Reflection

I completed my Covid Tracking shift on October 26th, 2020. I completed a total of five states, including New York, South Carolina, Indiana, New Mexico, and Massachusetts, after observing for half an hour or so.

The instructions for the shift were extremely straight forward, and the people in the team were also very helpful, consistently checking in to see if we needed help and making sure we understood the tasks.

I liked how much attention was given to the accuracy of the data from the entire team. Initially, I was a little confused about the date of data published, but that was quickly resolved as I began to chat with some of the checkers.

Slack was a very effective tool for communication, and I liked how responsive the entire team was. Overall, a very fun experience.

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie’s Tableau

Categories
Uncategorized

Bessie’s Plant Timeline

I made a timeline for all the plants in my apartment.