U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday warned that the "window is closing" to stop the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly in states where Latinos are highly affected. 

(Photo : Reuters Connect)

The number of COVID-19 cases in the country has already reached more than 2.6 million with a death toll of more than 128,000, according to worldometers.

The top leading states with the highest number of COVID-19 cases are New York, California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and Florida. Five of these six states are identified as having a large number of Latinos and Hispanics. 

New York has the highest number of COVID-19 cases that have already reached more than 416,000 while Latinos living in the state are estimated to be around 3.7 million. In New York City alone, 34 percent of COVID-19 deaths are coming from the Latino and Hispanic communities according to a report in Politico.

California which has recorded more than 216,000 COVID-19 infections has more than 15.3 million Latinos and Hispanics living in the state. According to a report published in ABC News, 49 percent of COVID-19 patients in the state is coming from the Latino and Hispanic communities.

In Texas, where there are more than 153,000 cases of COVID-19 is also the home of 10.9 million Latino and Hispanic people. Moreover, 34.8 percent of COVID-19 deaths in the state is coming from the Latino and Hispanic communities according to data obtained from Salud America.

It is very evident that Latinos and Hispanics are highly affected by COVID-19 in the country. They are the largest minority group yet the most vulnerable of the virus because of the nature of their jobs as farmers, helpers, and blue-collar roles. 

The U.S. now becomes the battleground of life and death for the Latinos and Hispanics. A battleground of life as they continue to work to sustain their daily needs and at the same time of death as they sacrifice their health and be exposed to the public. 

Recommendation of the U.S. Health Secretary 

The surge of COVID-19 cases in the country as it has already reached more than 2.6 million as of this time is very serious according to the U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar. 

He said that the window to stop the spread of the infectious and deadly virus is closing. He also asserted that everyone must now act responsibly by observing proper social distancing and wearing face masks all the time.

Azar also expected that there would be more COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci already warned that if these COVID-19 measures would not be observed, the country would experience an "uncontrollable" outbreak. 

Moreover, despite the attack of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Pres. Donald Trump for not wearing face masks publicly, Azar defended Trump and said that the President is regularly tested for COVID-19. 

However, Pelosi said that the reason why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the use of face masks and not to demand or require it because the agency does not want to offend Pres. Donald Trump.

Pelosi emphasized that Donald Trump should be the leading example in the country of wearing face masks because for the House Speaker it is not about protecting himself, but about protecting the people around him. 

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