Unmasking inequality: the power of community organization during COVID-19

"Touted by some as a 'great equalizer,' the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront long-standing disparities in access to health for Black, Latinx, immigrant, and low-income communities. While we are all in this fight together, some are bearing the burden more than others. Studies have shown that Blacks in the United States are especially affected, with them being represented twice as often among COVID-19 deaths as they are in the population (13 percent of the population vs. 27 percent of COVID-19 deaths). In New York City (NYC), primarily Black and Latinx neighborhoods are being ravaged, while whiter and wealthier areas are seeing fewer cases and deaths. Furthermore, there has been a mass exodus from whiter and wealthier neighborhoods, while New York’s Blacks, Latinxs, immigrants, and those from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds have been unable to escape financial, mental, and literal suffocation by the virus."

Aishwarya Raja is a medical student. Inginia Genao is an internal medicine physician.

They share their stories and discuss their KevinMD article, "Unmasking inequality: the power of community organization during COVID-19." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/10/unmasking-inequality-the-power-of-community-organization-during-covid-19.html)