We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on children and families across our state.
We also know from the latest data on infection rates, that some populations are being hit harder than others by this public health crisis.
The response must ensure that critical COVID-19 health services and programs are distributed widely in Maine and especially targeted to those communities experiencing increased risk factors for contracting the virus. With accessible testing, tracing, and supportive services that respond to the specific needs of communities, we can curb the spread of the virus, and better protect the health of all Mainers.
Individuals who are doing essential work right now – grocery clerks, direct health care workers, and factory and manufacturing operators – are over represented by Black men and women. These jobs that are critical to our day-to-day functioning, require workers to come into frequent contact with customers, and don’t allow for optimal social distancing and other safety measures. This puts them at greater risk for contracting COVID-19.
Many of these same jobs provide low pay and no benefits to those workers. Because of this, Black men and women are more likely to be uninsured and to not have a primary care doctor, which also puts them at greater risk during this pandemic.
With the high cost of housing, Black families in Maine often live in larger households or in multi-generational homes. In these types of living arrangements, it is nearly impossible for individuals to self-isolate or practice social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus to their families. This makes these households and communities more at risk for outbreaks. The socioeconomic factors of work, living conditions, and health create the context and set the stage for significant differences in the degree to which Black and white people are experiencing the negative impacts of COVID-19 here in Maine.
Alarmingly, between April 29th and June 10th, while the total number of COVID-19 cases of white men and women slightly more than doubled, the number of cases of Black men and women increased by a factor of 12
in Maine.
While they represent an estimated 1.3 – 2.1 percent of the total population
, Black Mainers account for 25% of the population who have tested positive for COVID-19
where race is reported .
This striking disparity between the population of Black men and women and their over representation in the number of cases of COVID-19 in Maine is now the largest in the country.
For public health experts, these disparities by race are not surprising, albeit deeply concerning. “Health differences between racial and ethnic groups are often related to economic and social conditions that, due to historic and systemic racism, are more common among some racial and ethnic minorities than whites. In public health emergencies, these conditions can also isolate people from the resources they need to prepare for and respond to outbreaks.” (CDC, COVID-19 in Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups
)
With an understanding of the likelihood that immigrant communities in Maine were at greater risk for contracting the virus, New Mainer leaders have been working with state officials on a COVID-19 response that includes providing critical resources specifically to their communities.
In Maine, it is estimated that there are 7,400 – 7,800 African immigrants* accounting for 42% of the Black population in the state. These New Mainers experience many of the same social and economic risk factors for contracting COVID-19, as well as unique challenges, such as language and trust barriers to effective outreach. Immigrant leaders quickly identified the need for testing to be available within their communities, translation of information, and the use of trusted health workers and contact tracers.
For Black and immigrant Mainers, who are more likely to be employed in industries where they can’t work from home, balancing their need to work against their health and safety, continues to be a challenge. “People in these jobs are in the direct line of the virus. They can’t stay home,” Maine CDC’s Dr. Nirav Shah said recently at a press briefing.
The issue of household spread in Black and New Mainer households – frequently larger and more multi-generational – is also a critical concern. So, it was a positive response when Dr. Shah reported on May 26 th
that contracts had been signed with area hotels to provide safe alternative housing and supportive services for those who were unable to self-isolate at home. This virus has shown us how much our lives are connected to each other. It has also revealed a fractured health care system that disproportionately fails Black people in our state.
Beyond this pandemic, there is work for us all to do to identify and dismantle racism in the systems that provide health and employment opportunity for white people, and restrict opportunity and present greater risk for Black people in our communities.
To protect the health of each
of us, we must ensure the health of all
of us. We live in communities, each a little different from the other, but all interconnected. And what the response to this pandemic looks like will vary, based on, and informed by, the needs of the people living there. For those communities at greater risk, the state should continue to engage with Black and New Mainer leaders to develop and implement rapid responses that are informed by their needs.
Until we can ensure that every community across the state has the access to critical testing and tracing, information, and community health workers, we cannot effectively prevent the spread of the virus, or ensure the health and safety of everyone
in our state.
* Based on a query completed for Maine Children’s Alliance by the Population Reference Bureau using microdata set from the US Census’s 2014-2018 5-year American Community Survey data