{"id":163639,"date":"2020-07-14T19:05:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T02:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=163639"},"modified":"2020-07-15T21:33:04","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T04:33:04","slug":"lesson-of-californias-covid-19-hot-spot-public-health-protocols-dont-fit-realities-on-the-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/lesson-of-californias-covid-19-hot-spot-public-health-protocols-dont-fit-realities-on-the-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson of California\u2019s COVID-19 \u201cHot Spot\u201d \u2013 Public Health Protocols Don\u2019t Fit Realities on the Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Above):<\/strong> Speakers at the July 10 conference, (l-r) Dr. Tung Nguyen, University of California, San Francisco;\u00a0<\/em>Dr. Edward Flores, Assistant Professor of Sociology at UC Merced; Luis Olmedo, Executive Director, Comit\u00e9 C\u00edvico del Valle Inc.;\u00a0<\/em>Luis Flores, an activist with the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition;\u00a0<\/em>Michelle Garcia, a nurse practitioner at the Calexico Wellness Center in Calexico; Armando Elenes, Secretary Treasurer, United Farm Workers. (Siliconeer\/Zoom screen grab)<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Pilar Marrero, Ethnic Media Services<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When Imperial County emerged as California\u2019s number one hot spot in COVID-19 infection rates, it exposed three variables \u2013 low wage workers, overcrowded households and inadequate health care \u2013 that make some regions a prime target for the corona virus.<\/p>\n

These same variables also explain why standard\u00a0 COVID-19 public health protocols tailored to the middle class are unlikely to flatten the curve much less bend it in the county.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these years we kicked the can down the road \u2013 now we\u2019ve run out of road,\u201d said longtime community activist Luis Olmedo, CEO of Comite Civico del Valle Inc.<\/p>\n

Imperial \u2013 with 88% of its population Latinx \u2013 hugs the border with Mexico and Arizona, making it both heavily agricultural and a typical border economy with a massive cross border movement of products and people every day.<\/p>\n

Since the start of the pandemic, the county\u2019s infection rate has been about six times the state average, with 2,835 cases per 100,000 people versus 491 cases per 100,000 statewide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guidelines and policies on the pandemic were developed in a way that applies largely to the middle class\u00a0 that can afford to stay home or miss work,\u201d said Edward Flores, a sociologist at UC-Merced. \u201cThey\u2019re not addressing the reality of (a certain number of) people who have to work, regardless of the situation\u201d \u2013 people Flores calls \u201cdistressed workers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flores released a new report \u201cHidden Threat\u201d co-authored by Ana Padilla, director of the Community and Labor Center at the University, during a recent news conference organized by Ethnic Media Services (EMS).<\/p>\n

The data indicates that a high level of \u201cworker distress\u201d \u2013 making less than a living wage and living in large households \u2013 is related to COVID-19 positivity rates.\u00a0 Some 35.8% of households in the county have workers who earn less than a living wage \u2013 the third highest rate in the state — and the average household size is\u00a0 three persons, which is the fourth highest in the state, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a striking relationship between these variables,\u201d Flores added. \u201cIn most counties where those two measures are larger than the average of the state, there is also a higher number of COVID-19 infections.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStay at home\u201d orders have proven relatively ineffective in counties with large populations of \u201cdistressed workers,\u201d according to Flores\u2019 analysis of 1.5 million\u00a0 records of COVID tests by the Centers for Disease Control.\u00a0 \u201cDuring the state at home, COVID fell for all groups except for Latinos, whose rates rose continuously during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community advocates have begun pushing for strategies to deal with the pandemic that are tailored to the county\u2019s endemic poverty and lack of resources.<\/p>\n

In June, when local officials began moving towards reopening the county in keeping with the lower infection rates of other counties, more than 2,000 residents signed a letter of protest, asking the County Board of Supervisors to keep the \u201cstay at home\u201d phase in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe it\u2019s an artificial choice between economic stability and public health,\u201d said Luis Flores, an activist with the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition which spearheaded the letter signing drive. \u201cWe are also not exceptional. What we see here is a dramatic version of the inequalities common in immigrant and low-income communities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter and the media coverage it received caught the attention of Gov. Gavin Newsom who pushed the county to move back its reopening plans.\u00a0 But activists argue that the most vulnerable workers who can\u2019t stay at home need other measures to be protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pushing to hold large scale retailers and agricultural companies accountable, we are pushing for eviction moratoriums, and for more protections in the workplace,\u201d said Flores of the Justice Coalition.<\/p>\n

A typical \u201cmedically underserved\u201d community, Imperial County lacks \u00a0speciality care providers and enough medical personnel to cover its needs, said Janet Angulo, director of Public Health for Imperial County.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a lot of residents who seek medical care in Mexicali on the other side of the border,\u201d she noted. \u201cMexicali is larger, has more hospitals and speciality care providers.\u00a0 It\u2019s also a very short drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angulo reports that the county has had more than 7,700 COVID-19 cases and 132 fatalities since the start of the pandemic, and the infection rate continues to rise.\u00a0 Over 500 patients have been transferred to hospitals outside the county through mutual aid agreements.\u00a0 Patients who need care but aren\u2019t critical are being treated in the gym of Imperial Valley College, Angulo said.<\/p>\n

Making matters worse is the fact that many residents who already suffer from diabetes or other illnesses that make them more vulnerable to infection don\u2019t know how to manage their conditions, according to Michelle Garcia, a nurse practitioner with Calexico Wellness Center.\u00a0 \u201cThey don\u2019t take their glucose levels, they don\u2019t know how to eat properly, and they don\u2019t get the appointments they need,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cMany don\u2019t have smart phones so\u00a0 video consultations may not be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a border county, Imperial County has a \u201cday population\u201d of workers crossing over every day to work in the fields. Armando Elenes, Secretary Treasurer of the United Farm Workers (UFW), says infection rates are rising among farm workers, not just in Imperial County but across the state.\u00a0 Letters sent to agricultural companies and contractors warning that safety measures needed to be put in place \u201cwent largely unheeded,\u201d Elenes said, \u201cand now we\u2019re seeing the effects of that.\u201d\u00a0 Elenes says that some employers refuse to pay workers when they are infected, blaming them for not taking care of themselves.\u00a0 Both undocumented and guest workers \u201cwork in fear\u201d that they will lose their jobs if they complain about the virus, he says.<\/p>\n

Videos from the conference:<\/strong><\/p>\n