The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on healthcare workers of color.

24% of nurses are people of color. But as of Sept 16, 58% of the nurses who have died of COVID & related complications are nurses of color.

Health care workers of color are 5 times more likely than the general population to test positive for COVID-19.

Workers of color are 20% more likely than white workers to care for suspected or confirmed-positive COVID patients. The rate goes up to 30% for Black workers.

Health care workers of color are also more likely to report inadequate or reused PPE, at a rate 50% higher than what white workers report. For Latinos, the rate is double that of white workers.

All health care workers who reported inadequate or reused PPE saw higher risks of infection.

Those with inadequate or reused gear who saw COVID patients were more than 5 times as likely to get the virus as workers with adequate PPE who did not see COVID patients.

Nearly a third of the nurses who’ve died of coronavirus in the US are Filipino, even though Filipino nurses make up just 4% of the nursing population nationwide. The memorial site Kanlunga honors and remembers them.

References

National Nurses United, “New report reveals widespread government failure to track and report data on Covid-19 deaths, testing, and infections

The Guardian & Kaiser Health News, Lost on the Frontlines

CNN, “Covid-19 is taking a devastating toll on Filipino American nurses“