I'm a #LatinX physician, taking care of #LatinX patients with #COVID19.

I've been so surprised at how people are surprised by data showing #COVID19 is disproportionately affecting marginalized communities that till now I didn't know how to respond.

Some thoughts:

1/

2/The implications of these #disparities run far deeper than simple differences in rates of morbidity and mortality. I applaud all of those shedding light on these #inequities, but we need action, and we need it now. @valstonemd @drlouiseivers #COVID19 #SDOH

3/A majority of our #EssentialWorkers, our #FrontLineHeroes, come from minority communities; these are the individuals putting themselves at risk to do the invisible work without which our society would collapse. @JoiaMukherjee #COVID19

4/I'm talking about our #GroceryWorkers, store clerks, our bus operators and our hospital janitors.

h/t @DrOniBee https://twitter.com/DrOniBee/status/1248069860002877441?s=20

5/I'm talking about our #farmworkers, many of which are undocumented, or our #Haitian workers who are being deported. The list goes on and on. h/t @cindypabon @HaitiJustice https://twitter.com/cmpabon/status/1248391273955741697?s=20

6/Those who are not lucky enough to have jobs in #essentialwork are losing their economic livelihoods at disproportionate rates as a result of #socialdistancing.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/24/coronavirus-unemployment-layoffs-blacks-latinos/2900371001/ via @USATODAY

7/To summarize: Members of our marginalized communities are either dying from #COVID19 at staggeringly disproportionate rates, being asked to undertake risky work, at staggeringly disproportionate rates, or losing their economic livelihoods at staggeringly disproportionate rates.

8/The lucky ones, like me, are asked to bear witness, to deal with the psychological trauma of watching my community decimated by a new disease, yet again, while working in a system that is uniquely designed to discriminate against them. There is no winning here. @greggonsalves

9/These #inequities are not new. They are most definitely not surprising. We have been suffering from and struggling against them for as long as we can remember. @michellemorse @DrMaryTBassett

10/But there is so much we can do. I found guidance in this proposal by @CamaraJones, that we focus on:

1. Valuing all individuals and populations EQUALLY.

2. Recognizing and RECTIFYING historical injustices.

3. Providing resources according to NEED. https://twitter.com/CamaraJones/status/1247513417608335360?s=20

11/Alternatively, we can pretend that this is the first time this is happening, ignore 400 years of inequity, and continue passing policy that supports the privileged at the expense of the poor. @LashNolen #COVID19 #SDOH

12/We have 2 choices for #COVID19 : we can perpetuate patterns of old, where we act surprised as a new disease uncovers our longstanding structural inequities, or we can do something to fix them, now, and bend the arc of our national values closer towards justice. @DrMaryTBassett