LANSING, Mich. — The virus has revealed gaping holes in our nation's healthcare system. We’ve talked about communities dealing with poverty being harder hit by the spread of COVID-19. As we continue our new series, Rebound Mid-Michigan, and our push to look at solutions to the problems we’re all facing, Chris Conte explored what needs to be done in some communities.
In cities across the country, there are neighborhoods and zip codes where the virus is hitting the hardest. Communities which were struggling long before the emergence of COVID-19.
Mary Cole lives in one of those places. She's currently sheltering in place inside her home in East Boston, a section of Boston where healthcare and housing are notoriously hard to come by.
“We’re a working class neighborhood and a lot of people in East Boston don’t have the luxury of sheltering in place.” This working class neighborhood is a myriad of minorities and immigrants -- they have been hit harder by coronavirus than most other areas of the city. Why? Many people didn't have good healthcare here to begin with.
As Many Lopes stated “If you don’t have a healthcare home then you don’t feel comfortable walking in and getting the treatment you need.” Mary oversees the east boston neighborhood health center a local non-profit. Many of their patients who might have COVID-19 are too scared to come in for fear their immigration status will be checked or they'll end up with a hospital bill they can't afford.
A virus added with unemployment and unstable housing just really magnifies it a thousands times
A lack of affordable housing in major cities across the country is helping the virus spread faster. When a family of six or ten is crammed in a 600 sq ft. apartment there's no place for someone to self-quarantine when they get sick.
Places like East Boston Health are outreaching to patients in multiple languages about COVID.
Even if someone tests positive the hope is that now they'll be more likely to get preventative care in the future.
Mary Cole explained “I worry about people who have to go to work every day and have to put themselves on the front lines, I worry about them catching this.”
As the country rebounds from the virus there's no shortage of issues coming to light.
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