For months we have heard stories from our neighbors and our friends of people losing loved ones to Covid-19. It seems that with each passing day the degrees of separation from ourselves and the virus gets smaller and smaller.

Although this is true for all demographics, it’s particularly true for the Latino community. New data shows that although Latinos make up about 19% of the national population, we account for nearly a third of all deaths. These numbers are staggering and experts are warning that entire communities are being decimated by the pandemic.

More than 44,500 Latinos have died of Covid-19 in the United States.

It’s no secret that the Coronavirus has ravaged our community but now we have concrete numbers that show just how bad the pandemic has been among Latinos. According to new data from the COVID Tracking Project, over 44,500 of the nearly 211,000 people in the U.S. killed by the Coronavirus to date are Latino.

While Latinos are under 19 percent of the U.S. population, we make up almost one-third of Coronavirus deaths nationwide, according to CDC data analyzed by Salud America, a health research institute in San Antonio. Among some age groups, like those 35 to 44, the distribution of Latino Covid deaths is almost 50 percent; among Latinos ages 45-54, it’s almost 44 percent.

Experts say several factors account for higher COVID-19 death and infection rates among Latinos versus whites, including poverty, health care disparities, the prevalence of serious underlying medical conditions, and greater exposure to the virus at work because of the kinds of working-class, essential jobs many Latinos have.

Many Latinos who have been infected or died of the Coronavirus are front-line or essential workers.

So many of our family members and neighbors work jobs that are now considered “essential.” From building cleaning services, to restaurant workers, grocery store employees, nurses, and farm workers, our community is on the front lines more than any other community in this fight against the pandemic.

In fact, 41.2 percent of all front-line workers are Black, Hispanic or Asian-American/Pacific Islander, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, an economic policy think tank. Hispanics are especially overrepresented in building cleaning services (40.2 percent of workers).

Latinos also have the highest uninsured rates of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S., according to the Department of Health and Human Services. All of these factors add up to a dangerous and deadly combination that has resulted in the outsized number of deaths among Latinos.

Some are saying that the virus is causing the ‘historic decimation’ of Latinos.

Speaking at a virtual Congressional Hispanic Caucus meeting last week, a global health expert warned that the Coronavirus is causing “the historic decimation” of the Latino community, ravaging generations of loved ones in Hispanic families.

To illustrate his point, Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, read off descriptions of people who died on Aug. 13 in Houston alone.

“Hispanic male, Hispanic male, Hispanic male, black male, Hispanic male, black male, Hispanic male, Hispanic female, black female, black male, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic, Hispanic” Hotez said, adding that many are people in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

“This virus is taking away a whole generation of mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, you know, who are young kids, teenage kids. And it occurred to me that what we’re seeing really is the historic decimation among the Hispanic community by the virus,” he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci – a popular figure in the fight against Coronavirus – has also raised the alarm.

The nation’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, gave a recent update on the impact on the Latino community. He pointed out that hospitalizations among Latinos 359 per 100,000 compared to 78 in whites. Deaths related to Covid-19 are 61 per 100,000 in the Latino population compared to 40 in whites, and Latinos represent 45 percent of deaths of people younger than 21, Fauci said.

Fauci said the country can begin to address this “extraordinary problem” now by making sure the community gets adequate testing and immediate access to care. But he said this is not a one-shot resolution.

“This must now reset and re-shine a light on this disparity related to social determinants of health that are experienced by the Latinx community — the fact that they have a higher incidence of co-morbidities, which put you at risk,” Fauci said.

Fauci also urged the Latino congressional members on the call to get their Latino constituents to consider enrolling in vaccination trials so they can be proven to be safe in everyone, including African Americans and Latinos.

“We need to get a diverse representation of the population in the clinical trials,” he said.

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Updated August 24, 2020.

Given the recent string of allegations against Ellen DeGeneres, many of her fans are taking inventory of her jokes and viewing them in a new light. Weighing and measuring the jokes DeGeneres has made in the past, fans are finding the comedian guilty of mean-spiritedness. Particularly when it comes to her treatment of her frequent show guest Sofia Vergara over the years.

Over the last decade, DeGeneres has had time to host Vergara on her talk show various times. Whether Vergara was herself or when she was sitting alongside the rest of the cast of her old show “Modern Family.” And despite the very many things DeGeneres could have talked to or celebrated Vergara for while hosting her, the Colombian actress was often subject to some of the worst jokes by DeGeneres.

All because of her thick accent.

Recently fans compiled clips of DeGeneres’s interviews with Vergara and it’s pretty not great.

In clips circulating on Twitter, DeGeneres can be seen jeering Vergara for her accent. During one interview, DeGeneres remarks hat Vergara’s “English has gotten worse, not better,” over the course of her time on “Modern Family.” Users on Twitter were quick to point out that DeGeneres often made jokes about Vergara’s English and often tried to make games out of her English-speaking abilities. In several incidents during the interviews, it seems pretty evident that Vergara might have been hurt by DeGeneres’ jokes.

Recently, Vergara addressed claims that DeGeneres was being racist towards her.

In response to allegations that DeGeneres was being racist, Vergara commented “Two comedians having fun with each other to entertain,” in a tweet going on to say “I was never a victim guys, I was always in on the joke.”

In response to Vergara’s message fans have pointed out that whether done with the intention of being racist towards Vergara specifically, DeGeneres’ jokes at the time were still hurtful to others.

“My parents, who have heavy spanish accents, didn’t have the option to be in on the joke.’ Instead, they were the butt of jokes,” one user wrote. “And as a child of immigrants, I was always picked on because of that. Your ‘entertainment’ may lead to some to think they have a free pass to ridicule.”

“Me too, my poor mom took classes to try to reduce her accent despite being perfectly understandable. The discrimination was even worse in the 80s but Ellen keeps it alive,” another Twitter user commented. “It’s the lowest form of humor, the put down towards the other person. It’s non funny peoples humor.”

DeGeneres has yet to comment on the clips that have resurfaced.

But they’re pretty damning.

Tons of people are commenting on the clips being shared of the actresses time together.

And it’s pretty heartbreaking how hurtful DeGeneres’ comments are.

And of course, you might remember this terrible offense.

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