The Surge of Summer through Winter, 2020-2021: COVID-19 Burned Through California’s Latino Population

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By David E. Hayes-Bautista, Giselle D. Hernandez, Paul Hsu • UCLA Health — Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture

SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA — While all population groups were affected by the COVID-19 surge from the summer through the winter of 2020?2021, California’s Latino population was among the hardest hit. Looking at increases in age-specific death rates, we can appreciate how many more Latinos than non-Hispanic whites (NHW) in every age group were killed by COVID-19. …

The surge from the summer through the winter of 2020?2021 affected all racial/ethnic groups, but it hit California’s Latinos particularly hard. In every age group, the disparity between Latino and non-Hispanic white death rates remained roughly the same throughout this period, ranging from two times to seven times as high, depending on age.

The tragedy of this surge was that many more people were infected during this six- month period, and as a result these disparities were displayed across an increasingly larger infected population base.

Latinos are overrepresented in many essential worker categories, from farm workers who provide California’s food to construction workers who build the state’s houses. The state must ensure that these populations receive priority for vaccinations and other medical care, so that California can recover and continue to go about its business.

About CESLAC — Since 1992, the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture (CESLAC) of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has provided cutting-edge, fact-based research, education, and public information about Latinos, their health, their history, and their roles in California’s society and economy.

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