Latinos and COVID-19
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A global health expert said on Wednesday that the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing "historic decimations" of the Latinos.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, revealed during a virtual Congressional Hispanic Caucus briefing the descriptions of people who died on Aug. 13 in Houston alone.

"Hispanic male, Hispanic male, Hispanic male, black male, Hispanic male, black male, Hispanic male, Hispanic female, black female, black male, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic" Hotez was quoted.

"This virus is taking away a whole generation of mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, you know, who are young kids, teenage kids. And it occurred to me that what we're seeing really is the historic decimation among the Hispanic community by the virus," he added.

Hotez connected with other health officials in Texas and found out that the trend is similar to other cities.

He added that the pattern also applies to other Latino communities in other parts of the country, specifically in the southern U.S.

Meanwhile, the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that hospitalizations among Latinos were 359 per 100,000 compared to 78 in whites.

This was as of Sept. 19.

In terms of deaths, there are 61 per 100,000 for the Latino population.

This is compared to 40 in whites.

Fauci also said that Latinos present 45 percent of deaths for people younger than 21.

The infectious disease expert said the country could address the problem by ensuring the community gets enough testing.

In addition, the Latino community should also get immediate access to health care.

However, he added that this is not a one-shot resolution.

"This must now reset and re-shine a light on this disparity related to social determinants of health that are experienced by the Latinx community - the fact that they have a higher incidence of co-morbidities, which put you at risk," Fauci was quoted.

Fauci said that that is something that you cannot fix in a month or a year. He said that it is something that needs a decade-long commitment to change those social determinants.

These social determinants make them more vulnerable to diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and kidney disease.

Fauci also called on Latino congressional members to call their Latino members to consider enrolling in vaccination trials so they can be proven to be safe to everyone.

"We need to get a diverse representation of the population in the clinical trials," he added.

Fauci said he believes there will be an answer by the end of the year or beginning of next year in whether one of five potential vaccines are safe and effective.

He said that we would only know after the tests are over, adding that anyone who makes predictions about them having it does not fully understand the challenges of getting a trial done.

Texas is among the states that did not expand Medicaid to provide healthcare access for its population under the Affordable Care Act.

Texas has the highest percentage of people without health insurance coverage in the country.

Latinos account for the largest share of people lacking health insurance coverage.

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