COVID-19 is sickening Hispanics in disproportionate numbers in Washington, according to data from the state Department of Health.
While Hispanics make up 13% of the state's population, they make up 25% of confirmed cases of the respiratory illness and 7% of those who have died after testing positive.
Those totals don't capture all of Washington state's 10,783 confirmed cases as of Thursday afternoon, April 16.
They represent the 58% of cases where race or ethnicity are known, according to data on the state Department of Health's website.
County health department case count don't include COVID-19 cases by race or ethnicity.
Christine Hancock, a family physician for Sea Mar's medical clinic in Bellingham, attributed the disparity to a number of factors.
Hispanics and Latinos are more likely to have chronic health conditions that put them at higher risk of illness when it comes to the coronavirus, and they're more likely to work in service industries -- twice as likely as the general population -- or other jobs that put them at greater risk of exposure, Hancock said to The Bellingham Herald.
Combined, that "means we're going to see more infections and higher mortality rates," she said.
"It's something that we see for many diseases all the time. This is a glaring example of where disparity is stark and it's happening quickly so it's more noticeable," she said.
Sea Mar is a community health center that focuses on Hispanic/Latino patients.
Another factor is that Hispanics and Latinos have the highest uninsured rates of any ethnic or racial group in the U.S., Hancock added.
That prevents the people in those groups from getting medical care on a regular basis and also when they're sick, she said.
Hancock attributed the lack of medical insurance to U.S. immigration policies.
"A lot of patients we see are undocumented and, therefore, can't get any insurance so that puts people in a tough spot," she said.
Sea Mar has been sending health promoters into different communities to try to educate people.
Information they're sharing, Hancock said, includes how to isolate if people have symptoms, where to get tested and, in the case of farmworkers, that if they're driving to fields to try to drive in their own vehicle or have as few people as possible in the vehicle with them.
