Take a Survey: Latinos, How Has COVID-19 Impacted You?



The Rutgers Community Health Justice Lab is inviting Latinos to complete this brief anonymous survey to understand the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on Latino health. The survey, which takes 45 minutes to complete, is available in Spanish and English. You can also enter a raffle for one of five $100 gift cards. "Understanding how Hispanics and Latinos have been impacted by the COVID pandemic is critical to guide efforts in reducing health inequity," according to survey creators Pamela Valera and Humberto Baquerizo and their team at Rutgers University. Why Latinos Should Participate in this COVID-19 Survey? COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the Latino community. COVID-19 pandemic is worsening historical inequities among racial/ethnic minorities. “This is robbing ...

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70,000 Latinos Lost Lives to Gunfire Since 1999


Latinos Lose Lives Gunfire

Gun violence claims many lives every year. 69,519 U.S. Latinos were killed with guns from 1999 through 2019, according to a new report from Violence Policy Center (VPC). The report, which also analyzed lethal gunfire data from 2019 by race/ethnicity, found Latinos have a nearly twice-as-high homicide victimization rate (5.15 per 100,000) than whites (2.62). Most homicides involved firearms, and Latino victims were often youths or young adults. This issue warrants legislative attention, as too many people still suffer at the hands of guns, according to Josh Sugarman, executive director at VPC. “A lot of states have not adjusted the way that they approach violence prevention and issues associated with their increasing Latino population,” Sugarman said. “The reason we do ...

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Data: Latinos Make Up Less than 2% of COVID-19 Media Coverage


Data: Latinos Make Up Less than 2% of COVID-19 Media Coverage

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted Latinos. Latinos have suffered a disproportionate burden of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths (especially among young people). But why has media coverage of Latinos and COVID-19 remained lower than other groups, barely making up 2% of all COVID-19 news? A data search conducted by the Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) indicates that Latinos have not been covered by news media in COVID-19 coverage to the extent that other populations like Black people, Native Americans, and women have been covered. Let’s take a look at what the data shows and the implications that a lack of media coverage has on Latinos. What Does the Data Show? The U.S. media produced a whopping 2,073,217 stories on either “covid,” ...

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Report: Housing Inequities Are Worsening for Latinos


Sad evicted mother with child worried relocating house

Close to 40% of Americans struggle to meet the rising costs of housing, and Latinos especially face hardship in affordable housing as the pandemic worsened inequities, says a new report. As the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are struggling with soaring home and rent prices, affordability issues, and the risk of eviction and foreclosure, according to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2021 from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Latinos and other people of color are impacted on a greater scale. "Millions of households that lost income during the shutdowns are behind on their housing payments and on the brink of eviction or foreclosure," the report states. "A disproportionately large share of these at-risk households are renters with ...

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Latino Life Expectancy is Dropping Amid COVID-19


Latino Life Expectancy is Dropping Amid COVID-19

Over the first half of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, gains made in life expectancy dropped — especially among Latinos and other people of color. As a whole, US life expectancy fell by a year, dipping from 78.8 to 77.8 years from 2019 to June 2020, which is the lowest average since 2006, according to CDC research. Latinos, who have experienced some of the harshest COVID-19 impacts, saw a drop in life expectancy of 1.9 years. Latino life expectancy fell from 81.8 to 79.9 years. “It was disturbing to see that gains that have been made for the Black [and Latino communities] and decreasing the gap between life expectancy for African Americans and white Americans over the past six years had come to a halt,” Dr. Leon McDougle, president of the National Medical Association, ...

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Biden COVID-19 Task Force Focused on Health Equity



President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Task Force is in full swing, and their main focus is tackling health equity. On Jan. 21, 2021, Biden signed an executive order to create a task force focused on COVID-19 related health and social inequities. “As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to plague the country, it has had a disproportionate impact on some of our most vulnerable communities. Shortly after COVID-19 was first identified in the United States, disparities in testing, cases, hospitalizations, and mortality began to emerge. These inequities were quickly evident by race, ethnicity, geography, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors,” according to the White House press briefing. As a result, the Biden administration selected people from diverse ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 3/2: Ensuring Healthy Hearts During COVID-19


hispanic man heart attack

Heart disease is the primary cause of death in the United States. Latinos are often uninformed of their risk for heart disease. Specifically, Mexican Americans have greater levels of uncontrolled blood pressure than non-Latino whites. They are also less likely to get treatment for high blood pressure. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the US, experts say people who have underlying health conditions should guard against COVID-19. Let’s use #SaludTues on March 02, 2021, to tweetchat about ways to promote heart health for Latinos and all people during COVID-19! WHAT: #SaludTues: Ensuring Healthy Hearts During COVID-19! TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST (Noon-1 p.m. CST), Tuesday, March 02, 2021 WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 2/2: The Chronic Wound of Health Inequity


crowd chronic wound tweetchat

You might know that health inequities, such as a lack of access to health care, housing, or transportation, prevent Latinos and other people of color from getting a fair opportunity to live their healthiest. These inequities can cut deeply, and for a long time. Some experts compare these inequities to a “chronic wound” that doesn’t heal in a timely or expected way, with both little progress and many long-term health consequences. Let’s use #SaludTues on Feb. 2, 2021, to tweet about how advocates, planners, and other leaders can take action to solve the chronic wound of health inequities! WHERE: Twitter WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat “The Chronic Wound of Health Inequities” WHEN: 1-2 p.m. ET (12-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021 HOST: Salud America! at UT ...

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