Raids on Immigrant Communities During the Pandemic Threaten the Country’s Public Health

Reports of a cluster of people with pneumonia of unknown etiology surfaced in Wuhan City, China, on December 31, 2019. In early January 2020, the novel coronavirus was isolated and identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the epidemic quickly spread beyond Wuhan City. In the United States, the first case was reported on January 22. By March 1, US cases had increased to 30. After one more month, US cases multiplied drastically to more than 163 000 with almost 3000 dead. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global pandemic. The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, proved to be extraordinarily contagious and to cause higher mortality than had previous related viruses; and the death rate is significantly higher among older populations and those with preexisting conditions. Because the current health crisis is caused by the intersection of a virus, preexisting medical conditions, and the social conditions ripe for the virus’s spread and development into severe disease, we recognize this pandemic also as a syndemic.

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