Inequities have an everyday impact, in the form of obesity, hypertension, asthma and other chronic conditions. But the inequalities come into sharp relief during a crisis.
As hospitals focus on saving people at risk of dying from COVID-19 and other medical facilities shutter to avoid spreading the disease further, people with serious medical conditions or troubling health concerns are getting less care than they normally would.
New York has closed dozens of hospitals in the last few decades, the result of larger healthcare trends, policy shifts and cost-cutting efforts. But that downsizing has been “called into question” by the coronavirus pandemic, experts say.
‘We are high risk and underserved people ourselves. We don’t want to spread the virus and infect our clients,’ one home attendant told World Journal. ‘But if we stop working, who would help them?’
The meal hubs have drawn praise, but there are still gaps. And other measures are being held up by the slow pace of the approval process in Washington.
People deemed unable to make their own health or financial decisions because of dementia, serious medical problems or other reasons are especially vulnerable.
The mayor and governor have taken different approaches to testing, but now they agree we need more of it. But who will get it? Where? And to what end?
‘If the undocumented immigrants are not safe, nobody is going to be safe in New York,’ says Lorena Kourousias, director of Mixteca Organization, a nonprofit in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Some undocumented immigrants are afraid to seek care, either because of fears about their status or medical debt, El Diario reports.
‘When I was told that they would not test for coronavirus, I felt really helpless,’ Nima Sherpa said. ‘But I gathered all my strength and told myself that it’s me who has to fight this battle.’
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