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COVID-19 unmasks Austin’s long-standing health inequities—with Latino residents hit hardest by the pandemic

Latino residents, who make up around one-third of the Travis County population are overrepresented when it comes to confirmed COVID cases, hospitalizations and reported deaths.
Fourth-generation East Austinite and community advocate Paul Saldaña is frustrated.
He has heard from many Latino residents that they are washing disposable face masks and bathing in their backyards to avoid exposing their family members to COVID-19, which they fear exposure to while working essential jobs.
As a member of Austin Latino Coalition, Saldaña has lobbied city officials to respond, but he feels there is still more they could be doing.
"At times, I feel like I live in a third-world country," he told Austonia.
Same storm, different boats
While Austin has seen its mid-summer surge deflate, the Latino community continues to be disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Latino residents, who make up 34% of the Travis County population, account for 52% of cases, nearly 60% of hospitalizations and 50% of deaths, according to Austin Public Health data. At one point, in late May, seven out of 10 hospital patients with COVID were Latino. The positivity rate among Latino residents who were tested last week is nearly 15%, compared to around 9% for the overall population.
Austin's confirmed COVID cases are more concentrated on its east side, with the highest number of cases in the 78744 ZIP code, where a majority of residents are Latino.
These disparities are not unique to Austin. But while the outcomes for Black residents have improved in recent weeks, the city has had little success closing the gap for Latino residents, who make up more than a third of its population.
"It's hard for us to correct decades of disparities that these communities [of color] have faced," Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott said on Wednesday.
Many reasons
There are a number of reasons Latino residents are more at risk of contracting COVID—and suffering worse outcomes—said Dr. Rene Salazar, assistant dean for diversity and a professor of medical education at Dell Medical School.
They are more likely to lack access to care, whether because they are uninsured or cannot afford monthly premiums and copayments; be undocumented and avoid seeking out care for fear of legal consequnces; face language and other cultural barriers that make getting care more difficult and less satisfying; and live in multigeneration households.
"Coming through the door, you're not able to social distance potentially," CommUnity Care CEO Jaeson Fournier told Austin Mayor Steve Adler during a Facebook live on Thursday. "And then there's a higher rate of transmission that occurs."
Latino residents are also overrepresented among essential workers, Salazar said, and undocumented residents do not qualify for stimulus funds or unemployment benefits, which further tilt the playing field.
"They really don't have an option [not to work]," he said. "It becomes a question of survival."
Other communities of color also struggle with historical and present inequities. But while Black Austinitess faced worse outcomes earlier in the pandemic, recently their share of the confirmed caseload and the hospitalized population has fallen. Disparities among Latino patients, however, remain.
"The biggest differences between the two communities are around language and immigration status," Salazar said.
Paul Saldaña—top row, second from left—and other members of the Austin Latino Coalition have met virtually with city leaders, including Mayor Steve Adler, to discuss how to address COVID-19 outcome disparities.
(Paul Saldaña)
What is being done
To address these disparities, the city has made funding available for rental assistance and other basic needs, introduced bilingual media briefings in June, hosted mobile testing events in hard-hit communities and convened a volunteer task force.
But Saldaña, who is a member of the task force, feels this is not enough, especially six months into the pandemic.
To address the disparities in COVID outcomes for Latino patients, he said the city needs to expand access to testing, so that residents without email addresses are still able to register for a free appointment and those who are unable to take time off work during the day are not shut out. Other priorities include increasing distribution of masks and financial assistance for those communities that are hardest hit.
"This is not just a Latino issue," Saldaña said. "When you buy your groceries, who's checking you out? Who's putting the produce [out] and who's restocking all the shelves? It's probably someone from our community, because we're overrepresented [among essential workers]. So you should be concerned."
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Popular
(Austonia)
Come later tonight, Texans will officially know who will be on the ballot for the November general election.
In Texas, candidates must win at least 50% of the vote to be elected. In the March primaries where the top candidate only received a plurality of votes, a runoff is being held. Voters will decide on the candidates to represent their party in the November general election. Just like the March primaries, voters will choose which party they'd like to vote in. Then based on location, each ballot will show which races are in a runoff.
Here's everything you need to know before heading to the polls.
Know before you go
The registration period for this election has passed; check if you're registered to vote here.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. As long as you're in line by 7 p.m., you can vote.
You'll need a valid photo ID to present once you're at a polling location.
Here is where you can vote in Travis County.
View wait times at polling locations here.
Races to watch in Travis County:
Statewide
Lieutenant Governor
- Republican: Incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick won his primary in March.
- Democratic: Mike Collier and Michelle Beckley are vying to be the Democrat candidate on the ballot.
- Republican: Incumbent AG Ken Paxton is fighting for his seat against George P. Bush.
- Democratic: Rochelle Garza and Joe Jaworski will face off to be the Democratic candidate in this race.
View all the statewide races on the ballot here.
U.S. House of Representatives
View the district you live in here.
District 21
- Republican: Incumbent Chip Roy won his primary in March.
- Democratic: Claudia Andreana Zapata and Ricardo Villarreal are hoping to secure this vote.
- Republican: Dan McQueen and Michael Rodriguez are going head to head to be the Republican candidate in this race.
- Democratic: Former Austin council member Greg Casar won this race in March.
District 19
- Republican: Ellen Troxclair and Justin Berry are vying to be the Republican candidate in this race.
- Democratic: Pam Baggett won her primary in March.
A $6,000 cockatoo named Lemon Grab was stolen from a pet store Sunday afternoon, owner Kelsey Fernandez said. (Kelsey Fernandez)
A big-money bird has been stolen from a northwest Austin pet store.
Kelsey Fernandez, the owner of a $6,000 sulphur and citron-crested cockatoo named Lemon Grab, said the emotional support animal was taken from the Gallery of Pets store, around closing time on Sunday.
"I've struggled with mental illness my entire life, and ever since I got him I've been doing so much better," Fernandez told Austonia.
The $6k cockatoo is young and will starve unless he is fed by hand, Fernandez said.
In a surveillance video, a man appears to have something under his shirt as he and two others exit the business around the same time the store believes that Lemon Grab was stolen.
Fernandez said a report has been filed with the Austin Police Department with an $1,000 reward for his return.
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