I joined @TODAYshow to talk about how #COVIDー19 is hitting Queens a disproportionately affecting Latinos and low-income New Yorkers. Tune into NBC to watch now.

Or not. Well, here’s what we talked about: Queens is the eye of the COVID storm in the US. It has the most confirmed cases and deaths. It’s hitting low-income and Latino communities the hardest.

Why?

- More of us live with our families (I’m one of them)

- And many households have multiple families living there

- If one person contracts it, it can spread like wildfire through a home

But why is it hitting THESE homes? It’s not just because more residents means more exposure

#COVID19Pandemic is spreading through Latino communities like mine (most cases, highest percentage of positive cases in NYC are in my community — 11368) because:

- so many people work in the service and hospitality industry. That means jobs you can’t work from home.

In black and Latino communities, a disproportionately high % of people work in hospitality and service industries. These workers have a hard choice:

Stay home, miss a paycheck, or expose yourself to the virus. If the family depends on you’re job, it’s a hard call.

Many of these workers are also essential. They’re construction, grocery store or delivery workers.

Only 16% of Latinos can work remotely, well below the national average.

Compounding all this is the hospital situation Queens.

We have the second highest population but fewer hospital beds than Brooklyn and Manhattan and fewer acute care hospitals. Elmhurst Hospital was bursting at the seams before the pandemic. COVID just pushes us to the brink.

This is the most diverse area on the planet with unique circumstances that makes it vulnerable to a pandemic.

One take away should be that if another outbreak hits, we need more resources and attention for the world’s borough—a good bet for the where a global pandemic might hit.