Coronavirus surging in Sacramento’s poor neighborhoods. What can be done to slow it?
The recent surge in Sacramento County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases has hit several socioeconomically-disadvantaged communities hard, including some places that had previously avoided the worst of the outbreak, according to a Sacramento Bee review of county and census data.
All five of the ZIP codes with the highest rates of COVID-19 cases per 10,000 residents diagnosed from mid-May through mid-June are in areas with high poverty rates. Del Paso Heights, Old North Sacramento and Lemon Hill were hit especially hard.
Sacramento community leaders said while they were not surprised by the recent surges, they were saddened and disappointed to learn the city is not immune to a national trend. Low income Black and Latino residents have been disproportionately affected by the virus across the country.
“The pandemic has in many respects illuminated many of the concerns we had about inequality in California,” said Chet Hewitt, president and CEO of the Sierra Health Foundation. “It’s almost as if it was an almost perfect setup for folks to have a clear presentation of what inequality looks like.”
That clear presentation is becoming increasingly evident in Sacramento. And it’s occurring as resources and city funding designed to help those communities have virtually disappeared.
In the ten ZIP codes in Sacramento County with the most poverty, the rate of new confirmed infections in the last month was about six per 10,000 residents, compared to a rate of about two new confirmed infections per 10,000 residents in the ten ZIP codes with the lowest poverty rates.
The number of confirmed cases in the 95838 ZIP code, which includes Del Paso Heights, more than doubled from mid-May to mid-June, jumping from 30 to 64. The ZIP code had about 8.7 new cases per 10,000 residents during that period, the highest rate in the county. Similarly, cases in the 95815 ZIP code, which includes Old North Sacramento, more than tripled, from 10 to 31.
In south Sacramento, a similar story has played out in the 95824 ZIP code, which includes the Lemon Hill neighborhood. It saw confirmed cases jump from 16 to 41, a 156 percent increase.
About 35 percent of residents in the 95824 (Lemon Hill) and 95815 (Old North Sacramento) ZIP codes live below the poverty line, the highest poverty rates in the county among ZIP codes with at least 10,000 people, the latest census figures show. About 25 percent of residents in the 95838 (Del Paso Heights) ZIP code live in poverty, much higher than the countywide rate of 16 percent.
Crowded households, low-wage workers at risk
Hewitt suspects the combination of crowded living quarters and a high number of essential workers doing low-wage jobs in those neighborhoods has contributed to the spike.
Hewitt said transmission is more likely to happen in households where people don’t have their own bedrooms.
“If I’m a 22-year-old young man living in the home with my cousins, my mom, my grandma and if I don’t have a place where I can actually isolate, if I don’t have a room or space in my home, transmission is more likely to happen,” Hewitt said.
About one in nine north Sacramento homes are overcrowded, with more people in the household than rooms. By comparison, only about one in 20 households countywide have more people than rooms, the latest census figures show.
While contact tracing, the practice of finding out who an infected person came in contact with, can be effective in the short term to slow the spread of coronavirus , disadvantaged communities desperately need more affordable housing to address the issue of overcrowding, Hewitt said.
In a city survey seeking input on how to spend federal COVID-19 funds, 50 percent of respondents said access securing permanent housing was extremely or very important.
People in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to work in low-wage jobs, such as at restaurants and grocery stores or as delivery people, Hewitt said. Many of those employees have continued to work outside the house during the pandemic, in some cases allowing higher-wage workers the luxury of staying home.
For many, it’s seemed like they didn’t have a choice. But it’s also increased their risk over time.
“If you work in fast food, you don’t have paid time off,” Hewitt said. “Choosing not to go to work means going without an income.”
And although eviction protections and mortgage help are in place to keep people housed, people still have to earn money for food, diapers and other supplies for their families. That’s an incentive to continue working, even if individuals are worried about contracting the virus and bringing it home.
“People in low-income neighborhoods of course are continuing to work to feed their families,” said Danielle Lawrence, executive director of the nonprofit Mutual Assistance Network based in north Sacramento.
Mervin Brookins, CEO of north Sacramento youth mentorship program Brother to Brother, said he thinks it’s less about socioeconomic factors and more about residents thinking they were in the clear.
Back in April, north Sacramento neighborhoods had a relatively low number of cases. It was the 95817 zip code, comprised of parts of North Oak Park, Elmhurst and Tahoe Park, that had by far the highest infection rate.
Over the last few weeks, Brookins has seen the “usual hangouts” that had cleared out in March fill back up again, like Jimmy’s Deli and the parks. He was even invited to a house party in Del Paso Heights. He declined.
As recently as mid-May, Sacramento County Public Health data did not indicate a disproportionate number of Black and Latino residents diagnosed with coronavirus. But the number of local confirmed cases in those populations has risen.
“I think our community as a whole was lulled into this sense that it was over and we were past it,” Brookins said. “Now that we’re starting to see the numbers we are, it’s time to sound the alarm and let people know, ‘Hey, this thing is still here and very real.’”
What can be done?
The city received $89 million in federal coronavirus stimulus (CARES) funds in April. The City Council, led by Mayor Darrell Steinberg, has laid out a plan to use the money largely for initiatives that help the city’s underserved neighborhoods.
So far the council has allocated about $34 million of that money. That includes $10 million on forgivable loans for small businesses, 75 percent of which will be in economically disadvantaged areas. The city also spent $1 million on homelessness and $2 million to help victims of domestic violence, which is also on the rise nationally amid the virus.
It’s unclear how the county, which received about $180 million in CARES funding in April, will spend its share. A meal delivery program for seniors, small business assistance, testing and contact tracers will be some of the items funded, a county spokeswoman said. But it’s unknown how much of the money the county has allocated so far and how much is left.
The seemingly slow pace greatly concerns Malaki Amen, executive director of the California Urban Partnership. He says communities who could really use that money are struggling.
“They need to figure out a way to get those dollars out quickly through trusted intermediaries,” Amen said
The California Urban Partnership, the Center at Sierra Health Foundation and United Way created a partnership to push city and county leaders to spend the money on residents who need it most.
A survey the organizations sent county residents found rent and mortgage payment assistance was the top priority for the CARES funding. The second was a need to build more affordable housing.
The city’s underserved areas could also use more testing, some say.
Mutual Assistance Network set up a testing site at the Roberts Family Development Center in Old North Sacramento about a month ago, giving residents a way to get tested without driving or taking a bus to Cal Expo or Natomas.
The site, open for 3.5 hours every Wednesday, attracts between 20 and 70 people each time, Lawrence said. People have been thankful.
“Del Paso Heights and north Sacramento is a neighborhood that takes care of its own,” said Lawrence, who grew up in Del Paso Heights. “And as much as individuals can be motivated to go to Cal Expo, its so much easier to motivate a neighborhood from within to go within to get the support they need.”
If there were more testing sites in more neighborhoods, it’s possible that people might feel more comfortable going, she said.
This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
