Since the coronavirus crisis began, Latinos and Latinas have disproportionately filled essential, in-person jobs that cannot be done from home. From grocery stores, farms, meatpacking plants and factories to transit, delivery, janitorial, and health-care support roles, they have kept schools, stores and infrastructure running while facing heightened exposure to the virus.
Many of these workers lack protections that would reduce risk: limited access to personal protective equipment, unsafe or crowded workplaces, scarce paid sick leave, inadequate workplace enforcement, and barriers to testing and care. Economic necessity and undocumented status can force people to work while ill or avoid seeking medical help. Language barriers, crowded multigenerational housing and unequal access to health insurance have compounded the danger for Latino communities, contributing to higher infection and mortality rates in many areas.
These disparities reflect broader structural inequities in wages, job security and health care access. Addressing them requires workplace safety measures, accessible health care and testing, paid leave, targeted outreach in Spanish and other languages, and policies that reduce barriers for immigrant workers.
CBS News presents a special, Pandemia: Latinos in Crisis, hosted by Maria Elena Salinas, that examines these challenges and the human costs borne by Latino frontline workers during the pandemic.