First came unwavering fatigue here. Then came excessive pain in the eyes, followed by migraines, fevers and chills. In a few days, Aurelia Vargas prostrate in bed.
Vargas, a housekeeper in the San Rafael Canal district, thought the disease would pass.
“I didn’t think it could be just the virus because I wore a mask, used hand sanitist and limited my exits,” he said. “I never imagined it would be like this. “
But it was. Vargas, 44, was tested for the coronavirus in early July.
His story is not unique. In fact, for Latinos like Vargas it is alarming, and even more so in Marin County: only 16% of the county’s population is Latino, but they account for 71% of coronavirus cases. No other Bay Area county has such a disparity. .
Six months after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Latinos in the United States remain among the highs devastated by COVID-19, contracting the virus at particularly higher rates than other ethnic and racial groups, and despite the critical need for testing. of coronavirus in those communities, public fitness facilities go through those who want it the most.
Now, however, public fitness officers in California and the Bay Area are taking steps to retaliate, in part, by raising and touching the location in low-income communities and doing more to inform Spanish-speaking families of their options.
California state public fitness officials recently announced that they are preparing “fitness equity measures” that counties will have to meet in the most affected communities, such as Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, as a component of the state’s new formula for when counties can reopen businesses.
In San Francisco, public fitness officials are scaling up coronavirus testing in neighborhoods with infection rates.
And in Marín, county leaders are focusing on eliminating COVID-19 cases in the Canal, a low-income community that accounts for the maximum number of county infections among Latinos.
Low-income Latinos are especially vulnerable because they have a percentage of homes with multiple families to pay dizzying rents. Unlike their wealthiest rivals who can sometimes paint from home, many low-income Latinos have must-have jobs in public spaces. While many Americans can do it. The paintings of the house, the ones that pack, prepare the takeaway orders in the restaurants, tend to the orchards and harvest are the Latins.
“The milestone of these disparities, especially in the Latin American community, is the story of an essential frontline worker,” dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, President of Epidemiology and Biological Statistics at UCSF. “The user who leaves home, goes to work, then exposes himself to work, and then brings this exposure to the circle of relatives because there is overcrowding in the circle of relatives, dense living conditions and frankly an inability to isolate himself. “
Although network advocates have spoken out about the challenge from the outset, it is imaginable that knowledge (Latinos account for 61% of coronavirus cases in the state and 49% of COVID-19 deaths) have spoken even louder. population.
That’s why state officials say they will soon begin demanding that counties paint to prevent the virus in “the hardest-hit communities in a county” before they can reopen businesses.
The California Public Health online page says the requirement is “pending”. But the site says that in addition to reducing case rates and positive testing, local governments will want to expand coronavirus prevention to the most affected communities, which will mean greater access to testing. , more tactile research, increased educational awareness and assistance in isolating others safely, the online page says.
Marin County is largely white and prosperous, however, Latinos account for approximately 3 out of four cases of coronavirus, said Dr. Matt Willis, marin County’s public fitness official. Bay Area.
The vast majority of infections among Latino Marín are concentrated in the Canal district, a high-density enclave of immigrants that stretches for about 4 miles along the San Rafael Canal, which is a surprising juxtaposition with the surrounding communities.
Of the more than 13,000 people living in the canal, about 1,100 (8%) tested positive for the virus, according to Marin Health and Human Services.
Vargas, a resident of the canal for almost 30 years, said he didn’t know how he contracted the virus. Doctors first told her husband, a gardener, that he probably had the virus too, as the couple even shared a room. after Vargas felt sick, but his check effects were negative again, she said.
Vargas said she quarantined her room for several weeks to protect her husband and two daughters, but the family circle lives in a small two-room apartment with a shower, which did not allow them to completely isolate themselves, and they had to bring him food. when she was bestray in bed.
Vargas disinfected the bathroom after each use, her husband and children wore masks inside the house, cleaned the pieces they shared with Clorox, and washed their hands.
“What is happening here is in black and brown communities in other parts of the country. It’s not accidental,” said Omar Carrera, ceo of Canal Alliance, a nonprofit organization that is helping immigrants not only in the canal district, but also in Marin County, offering them food. skills development. The organization played a critical role during the crisis, distributing more than $1. 6 million in aid to thousands of families who became ill or lost their jobs to the pandemic.
“The inequalities that these communities faced prior to COVID-19 created the best environment for the virus to grow so large in those regions,” he said.
They also say a lot about why, once the virus is established, it’s so hard to contain,” said Willis, the county’s public fitness official. “You have economic points that lead to the inability to live at home and the need for a daily salary Then you have the accommodation points that lead to amplification and dissemination within the family for the essential staff that has been exposed ».
The effects of wilmer Garcia’s check in June showed his worst fear: he and six other members of the family circle were inflamed by the coronavirus. The virus temporarily spread to Garcia’s four-bedroom space with 12 members of the family circle in San Francisco. , adding his mother, cousins, brothers, nieces and nephews.
The circle of family members, Garcia’s brother-in-law Alex Galdames, contracted the virus while cleaning a hotel and brought him back to the house, Garcia said.
“When they gave him the positive results, we were all scared,” Garcia said. “We were alarmed. “
After his diagnosis, the circle of relatives divided the space in two: those who were inflamed shared two bedrooms and a bathroom, while those who had been saved shared the remaining bedrooms and bathrooms.
The family, originally from Honduras, has since recovered. But they are a classic example of how the virus can temporarily spread among others living in overcrowded living conditions, occasionally adding up to other low-income people and immigrant families who cannot afford rents in the Bay Area on their own.
People living in dense housing are more likely to contract the virus, but have less ability to quarantine if they get sick, UCSF’s Bibbins-Domingo said.
“That’s the dynamic in the Bay Area,” he said.
Latinos account for part of all cases in San Francisco, representing only 15% of the city’s residents.
Once again, alarming numbers are driving action.
Public fitness officials in the city said they had recently expanded testing in the most affected communities of color, adding Mission, Visitacion Valley and Bayview-Hunters Point, and hired more contacts who will deal with culturally competent care.
The branch said it also plans to identify a $5 million grant program to help organizations expand fitness employee groups and outreach systems in the Latino community.
Meanwhile, UCSF on Wednesday published the effects of its three weeks on whether coronavirus testing at a busy transportation center in downtown Mission District, San Francisco’s main Latino neighborhood, would be helpful and welcome.
But researchers were also reminded that low-income staff living in overcrowded, more commonly Latino homes, remain the most affected by the virus.
UCSF presented loose non-appointment testing in August at 24th and Mission Street Square in San Francisco, a busy place buying groceries where they stop a BART and Muni station.
Of the other 2622 people tested at the transit center, 9% (about 235 participants) tested positive for coronavirus and, of this group, almost all, about 93%, were Latino, according to the study. of them spoke Spanish as their preferred language, 87% earned less than $50,000 a year and only 22% had a policy in case of illness. Most, 79%, also lived in a high-density house, with an average family length of six other people.
These trends are amplified in Marin County, where homelessness has led many other low-income people to live overcrowded.
Recently, during the week, young mothers watched the unruly little children run through Pickleweed Park. In addition, modest apartments on Canal Street have given way to Spinnaker Point, a quiet oceanfront community covered with spacious homes, lush gardens and manicured lawns. distance.
Marin network clinics opened a canal check about six weeks ago, where medical staff review up to 60 citizens a day, said Melanie Thompson, regional medical director of the clinics.
“We know there’s a need in this community,” he says.
A few dozen people, mostly Latin American people, recently found themselves in a sweltering outdoor heat at Marin network clinics for testing. Some came here with young children and children. Many medical staff members spoke to citizens in Spanish. hands of worried or frightened patients. They danced and joked among patients to lighten their spirits.
Canal Alliance also ran a verification site in the region for six weeks. The organization has worked with Marin County to rent five trained bilingual contract trackers through UCSF, who will track infections in this community. The organization also provides financial assistance and hotel rooms to angry citizens who want to isolate themselves, among other resources.
Since then, Vargas has recovered from the virus, his vision remains a little blurry, he said, he still has trouble breathing and is experiencing tremors.
“We are indispensable, ” he said. Many Latinos paint in restaurants, shops, hospitals. They didn’t stop them from painting. “
Tatiana Sánchez is editor of the San Francisco Chronicle Email: tatiana. sanchez@sfchronicle. com Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez