Latino Workers, Other People of Color Face Higher COVID-19 Exposure From In-Person Work

Latino workers, along with other workers of color, have been some of the hardest-hit communities since the early days of COVID-19 in the United States, and new studies shed light on the plight of these individuals.

According to a report from CNBC, COVID-19 measures such as shutting down businesses and letting people work from home actually helped protect some Black, Native American, and Latino workers who were hardest hit by COVID-19.

Notably, these measures help people of color from in-person work that put them at a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19.

In a report from the Urban Institute, it was said that more than half of all Black, Native American, and Latino workers hold essential and nonessential jobs.

Their work has to be fulfilled on-site and in close proximity with other people at a more significant share than White workers.

Latino Workers Have Biggest Share of In-person, High-contact Jobs

Researchers found that 53 percent of Hispanic workers hold a job that needs to be done in-person, compared to White workers who make up 41 percent.

Black and Native American workers in in-person work also recorded a share of 51 percent each. Meanwhile, Asian workers who hold in-person, high-contact jobs make up 42 percent of their overall population.

Generally, these workers hold essential work in critical infrastructures like health care and transportation or nonessential work that can't be done at home like restaurant and in-store retail work.

Lisa Dubay, a lead researcher of the report, told CNBC that these groups of workers and businesses are often forgotten amid the pandemic.

She urged for the protections needed for both essential workers and the nonessential establishments that have to stay open during the pandemic.

Black, Asian, Latino Workers More Likely to use Public Transport

One of the other factors that may also contribute to the significant rise of COVID-19 cases among these populations is the use of public transport when going to work.

According to the research, most Black, Asian, and Latino workers use public vehicles to go to work. These circumstances allow for a greater risk of exposure to the virus.

They also tend to live in multi-generational homes where they could pass on possible exposure to at-risk older adults or children.

Latino Workers Express Health Concerns as Pandemic Rages On

With the risks that people of color experience daily, they also have fewer means to help themselves if they get infected.

For starters, they are more likely to lack health insurance coverage. One example is the Latino workers, of which only 28 percent of the overall population are covered by insurance.

Workplaces have several means to lower these risks not just for the workers but their customers as well: requiring masks, social distancing, routine cleaning, and the like.

In addition to this, some people of color also cast doubt on a possible coronavirus vaccine, if one does get approved by the Food and Drug Administration by year's end.

Anthony William, a participant in an experimental COVID-19 vaccine trial in October, told ABC News that he was discouraged from being a "guinea pig" for a healthcare system with a history of "brutality against people of color."

But he pushed through, thinking taking part in the research will help change the disparities between White people and racial minorities.

Vaccines need to test several groups of people from different age groups, races, and health conditions to determine how effective their vaccines will be.

Medications also tend to react differently to different people, so having a diverse pool of volunteers helps smooth out these lapses.