California leaders betray Black and Latino communities with COVID-19 testing shortage

The decision by Sacramento County health officials to shut down COVID-19 testing centers in poor communities even as infections are spiking makes two things exceedingly clear.

First, it’s further proof that Gov. Gavin Newsom and Sacramento County health officials acted recklessly by rushing to lift coronavirus restrictions before it was safe.

Second, it hammers home the fact that – due to systemic racism – poor communities and people of color will suffer the worst consequences of California’s botched reopening.

“In a major setback, Sacramento County health officials said Monday they will shut five coronavirus testing sites this week in under-served communities due to a growing shortage of testing materials,” reported The Sacramento Bee’s Tony Bizjak.

“It’s a big hit,” said Dr. Peter Beilenson, Sacramento County’s public health director, who called the closures the necessary result of national test shortage.

As a result, the county will close the following testing centers, which are located in lower-income areas:

▪ Natomas Unified School District

▪ South Sacramento Christian Center

▪ Tetteh Pediatric Health in South Land Park

▪ La Familia Counseling Center

▪ Robertson Community Center

These testing sites, located in neighborhoods too often left out when it comes to distributing resources, are essential to ensuring that every community has access to testing in the middle of this deadly pandemic. Without them, Sacramento will have “test deserts” – places where low-income people and people of color lack local access to testing. Not everyone owns a car, putting drive-through testing sites out of reach for some.

COVID-19 has taken an especially harsh toll on African Americans and Latinos, who are being disproportionately affected by the virus. Latinos account for 39 percent of California’s population but comprise over nearly 56 percent of the state’s coronavirus cases and nearly 42 percent of COVID-19 deaths. African Americans represent 6 percent of California’s population, but account for 4.4 percent of its coronavirus cases and 9 percent of COVID-19 deaths.

“The most impacted community in the state of California is the Latinx community,” Gov. Gavin Newsom told Bee reporters in a private interview. “These are the heroes of the front lines, the essential workers that we relied on at the beginning of this pandemic to keep us fed and to take care of our most acute needs.”

“We could not afford to neglect 39 percent of our population,” he said.

Newsom should have thought of that before adopting the disastrously rushed reopening strategy that has caused a surge in COVID-19 infects and sent the state hurtling backward in its efforts to slow the virus. It was already clear that Latinos, people of color and the poor would pay a higher price for any missteps from leadership. Now that California finds itself in a nightmare scenario, the lack of resources is compounding the tragedy in our most vulnerable communities.

Sacramento County’s decision to shut down testing centers in lower-income neighborhoods is a direct consequence of state and local mismanagement of this crisis. When our leaders decided to end the COVID-19 shutdown, they said they were prepared to handle the increase in cases. This appears to have been a lie.

President Donald Trump, seeking to evade responsibility as usual, left individual states in charge of testing. The rush to reopen the nation at Trump’s request has resulted in a surge in infections and a surge in demand for testing that has led to shortages and delays. The result is a disastrous lack of testing capability right when we need it most. Gov. Newsom likes to brag about how many tests California has conducted, but the closure of these testing sites underscores the inadequacy of his performance in this crisis.

California can’t beat this virus without widespread testing and contact tracing, and now testing has been cut off in in our most at-risk communities. Gov. Newsom and Sacramento County officials should have considered this possibility before rushing to reopen. Now, they must work to restore these testing sites as quickly as possible or face accountability for the deadly consequences.

This story was originally published July 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM.