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. 2020 Dec;47(6):845-849.
doi: 10.1177/1090198120963099. Epub 2020 Oct 14.

Understanding and Addressing Latinx COVID-19 Disparities in Washington State

Barbara Baquero  1 , Carmen Gonzalez  1 , Magaly Ramirez  1 , Erica Chavez Santos  1 , India J Ornelas  1
Affiliations

Understanding and Addressing Latinx COVID-19 Disparities in Washington State

Barbara Baquero et al. Health Educ Behav. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, and intensified, health inequities faced by Latinx in the United States. Washington was one of the first U.S. states to report cases of COVID-19. Public health surveillance shows that 31% of Washington cases are Latinx, despite being only 13% of the state population. Unjust policies related to immigration, labor, housing, transportation, and education have contributed to both past and existing inequities. Approximately 20% of Latinx are uninsured, leading to delays in testing and medical care for COVID-19, and early reports indicated critical shortages in professional interpreters and multilingual telehealth options. Washington State is taking action to address some of these inequities. Applying a health equity framework, we describe key factors contributing to COVID-19-related health inequities among Latinx populations, and how Washington State has aimed to address these inequities. We draw on these experiences to make recommendations for other Latinx communities experiencing COVID-19 disparities.

Keywords: COVID-19; Latinx disparities; access to health care; language access; public health response; working conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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