Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has shared a powerful video to her Instagram page, highlighting the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the Bronx.
The New York congresswoman for the 14th district, shared the video on Instagram, writing in the caption that her district is the worst affected in the country for Covid-19.
In her caption she wrote that “when it comes to COVID-19, inequality IS a pre-existing condition. Take it from NY14, the most COVID-impacted community in America.”
She added that “there is a clear reason our communities are hit hardest by COVID: the vast, systemic inequalities that were growing pre-COVID are now determining who lives or dies in this pandemic.”
Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who is an advocate of a single-payer healthcare system, ended her caption, writing, “It’s time for Medicare for All.”
In the video, the Bronx-born congresswoman shows the work she and many other residents are doing to help those affected by the virus.
Wearing a mask and gloves throughout, she is shown helping people shop for groceries, and delivers food to the doors of local residents.
Footage of other parts of New York is shown, but Ms Ocasio-Cortez primarily focuses on the impact of the virus on her district: “We have the Bronx, that has twice the death rate of the rest of New York City.”
She says that the coronavirus pandemic is a case study for why medicare for all is so necessary in the US.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez adds that Covid-19 is affecting communities differently and hurting Black and Latino communities the most.
“This just points to a lot of the structural issues we have in New York City. Latino and Black communities are disproportionately impacted,” she says.
“So let’s come together,” the congresswoman adds.
Google’s dedicated coronavirus page shows that New York State has upwards of 222,284 confirmed cases and at least 14,636 deaths.
According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, nationally there are upwards of 654,301 people who have tested positive for coronavirus. The death toll has reached at least 31,628.
