Despite making up less than a fifth of the state’s population, Latinos in Illinois have surpassed all other racial and ethnic groups in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases.
The Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday reported 12,979 cases of COVID-19 among Latinos, 12,772 among whites, and 11,706 among African American people. Another 14,287 cases do not list the person’s race or ethnicity.
Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said crowded households in the Latino community are part of the reason why there’s a spike in cases.
“One of the beautiful things about the Latino culture is their family cohesiveness, and the situation where you have ... grandparents and parents and children living together, it means there’s going to be easier spread,” Ezike said.
Another factor is many Latinos work essential jobs and can’t afford to stay home, particularly those who are undocumented immigrants.
“A lot of Latinos are in the frontlines and can’t physically distance, it’s a privilege not all of us have,” said Dr. Marina del Rios, who practices emergency medicine at the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago.
Del Rios said Latinos have been coming into her emergency department in large numbers for weeks, but she “didn’t have the numbers to back it up because we lacked testing.”
Del Rios worries Latinos who primarily speak Spanish are having a hard time communicating their symptoms with physicians, especially since hospital visitations have been limited or outright banned.
“Prohibiting visitors means that when abuelita comes and doesn’t speak a lick of English, there’s sometimes no one there to translate for her,” she said.
“I’ve heard stories of people that have gone to the hospital and because they weren’t able to communicate how sick they are, they’re sent home without proper instructions as to when they should come back. And when they do come back, it’s too late.”
So far, 351 Latinos in Illinois have died from COVID-19.
Carlos Ballesteros is a corps member of Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster Sun-Times coverage of Chicago’s South Side and West Side.
