Poor and minority communities were at a disadvantage before COVID-19, but they are getting hit hardest now. Can the U.S. use this moment for positive change?
African Americans and Native American communities have been particularly hard hit by COVID-19, as well as people in the lowest income strata — many of whom work jobs that expose them to the virus, and have limited access to our nation’s fragmentary social safety net.
Swapna Reddy, clinical assistant professor at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions and adjunct professor in health care administration at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine-Arizona, describes both problems and potential solutions to the long standing crisis of inequity that this pandemic is highlighting.