With COVID-19 cases on the rise, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that essential workers are getting sick more often than others – and one reason for that may be that they don’t have a safe place to isolate when they become infected.
Armida Campos is back in the kitchen at Pachitas restaurant. She discussed her battle with COVID-19 through a translator.
“I was afraid for my mother, my daughters,” Campos said. “I was afraid because so many people were dying.”
Like many Latinx essential workers, Campos lives in a multigenerational household, making it difficult to isolate.
Newsom said he wants to expand COVID-19 services for essential workers, including providing a safe place to recover.
“Hotel room subsidies we want to expand. We talked about project roomkey working with the homeless, and we want to build on the roomkey model and expand it to people who need support and need to be isolated,” Newsom said.
Campos said she would be reluctant to leave family.
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“It seems like a good plan but at the same time it’s not because I’d be separated from family,” she said.
Miguel Ramirez said the plan will help prevent the spread of the virus.
“I know a lot of Spanish people live together with three or more people in a room,” he said. “If one gets sick everyone is gonna get sick.”
Newsom said he also plans to expand outreach so people know help is available. He’s releasing a COVID-19 employer handbook to get the word out.
“What people don’t know is how they can get benefits,” said Ramirez.
