Baltimore to expand efforts to help Latinos during pandemic

Officials in Baltimore are expanding efforts to reach Latinos during the coronavirus pandemic to try to lessen the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has inflicted upon that community of residents.

The measures announced Friday include increasing bilingual public messaging on preventing infection, getting tested and isolating. Officials will also add culturally and linguistically competent contact tracers and help immigrants get access to financial assistance.

The city is working with several nonprofit organizations in these efforts, which will kick off in January.

Latinos represent 15% of COVID-19 cases in Baltimore even though they make up slightly more than 5% of the city’s population.

“This initiative helps us target interventions that will control and prevent the spread of COVID-19, improving the health outcomes of Latino residents affected by the disease,” said Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, the city’s health commissioner.

Maryland’s largest city had tallied 29,020 COVID-19 cases and 628 deaths as of Friday. Dzirasa said Latinos in Baltimore are 2.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to be diagnosed with the virus.

With a population of 60 million, Hispanic people in the U.S. are four times more likely than non-Hispanic white people to be hospitalized because of COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are many reasons for their vulnerability, including the fact that many Latinos are less likely to have health insurance or access to quality health care - sometimes because they can’t afford it and sometimes because of their immigration status. Many also cannot perform their job duties remotely and work in industries deemed essential, such as food service, sanitation, meat packing, construction and retail. And many live in larger, multigenerational households where social distancing is difficult.

In addition, many are reluctant to get tested or seek treatment out of distrust of government or fear of deportation if they live in the country illegally.

Under Baltimore’s expanded efforts, the nonprofit CASA, which assists immigrants and Latinos in the Mid-Atlantic region, will enlist some community members to serve as credible messengers, not only on social media, but in person as well. Their goal will be to educate residents of the neighborhoods with the highest COVID-19 rates, including on the importance of getting inoculated when the vaccine becomes available to the public.

Dzirasa said six of Baltimore’s contact tracers are bilingual, a number the city plans to increase.

“In Baltimore, we know that we cannot protect public health and wellbeing without ensuring that all residents regardless of their identity or status have access to care and support,” Mayor Brandon Scott said during a news conference to announce the new strategy.