Covid-19 is taking a devastating toll on Filipino American nurses

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A recent report from the largest nurses' union in the country revealed the disproportionate number of deaths. It's a jarring statistic researchers are working to understand and a tragedy families across the US and around the world are living with every day.

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"Three times as many Filipino health care workers have died here in the US than in the Philippines," she says. "So right away we know that there's something wrong."

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For decades, Filipino nurses have been on the front lines when health crises surged in the US and around the world.
"A number of them have worked in previous epidemics and pandemics in the United States, from AIDS to SARS to Ebola to Covid," says Catherine Ceniza Choy, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of California at Berkeley. "So this is not a new phenomenon."

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One possible factor, according to a research team she's working with: the places where Filipino nurses are more likely to work.
"The major finding...was that Philippine-trained nurses were disproportionately in the ICUs, the emergency rooms, in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, compared to White, US-trained nurses. They were therefore much more exposed to Covid-19," says Jennifer Nazareno, the co-founder and co-director of the Philippine Health Initiative for Research, Service, and Training at Brown University's School of Public Health.
They're also more likely to live in multi-generational households, caring for more dependents. And often, she says, they're breadwinners supporting family members in the United States and the Philippines. That means they may be more likely to stay in high-stress jobs that put them more at risk.

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[Bear Patrol]

That is devastating. Literally putting their lives on the line in a country where 40-50% of the people don't give a shit about the Coronavirus.

 

[Hella]

Fuck that is a heartbreaking stat. And article.

Really worth reading the whole thing.

 

[Auron Kale]

While only a few of my cousins that are nurses are directly on the front lines, many of them do live in multigenerational homes (myself included). Not a day goes by where I don't worry about everyone in my immediate & extended family getting exposed.

For the record, we all live in the SF Bay Area.

 

[Lulu]

Thats a crazy stat

 

[Deleted member 26591]

They've found in the UK a massively disproportionate number of deaths of health workers have been with BME staff. It's pretty horrific tbh.

 

[RBH]

That's a crazy statistic

 

[Doggg]

The real frontline heroes.

 

[iori9999]

Yeah I heard about this as early as late April as well. Just terrible.

 

[Brinbe]

yeah, these are exactly my relatives. filipino canadian/american nurses. my cousins and aunts. thankfully, they've all been fine so far. but i've read of way too many stories of others who succumbed to covid leaving a real lasting pain for their families and loved ones. breaks my fucking heart.

 

[Joni]

They've found in the UK a massively disproportionate number of deaths of health workers have been with BME staff. It's pretty horrific tbh.

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Covid deaths in the US and the UK in general are higher with BME, so it shouldn't be surprising this is reflected in health workers.

 

[donkey]

I'm always crossing my fingers for my mom (Filipina nurse) to not catch it as she's sometimes had to cover down in other departments because of the strain from COVID. Reading that article definitely hasn't helped that anxiety.

 

[plain]

Yep, it's sad. Of the nurses that I know, the one that died from Covid was Filipino. The virus also killed her son.

 

[Stencil]

I'm always crossing my fingers for my mom (Filipina nurse) to not catch it as she's sometimes had to cover down in other departments because of the strain from COVID. Reading that article definitely hasn't helped that anxiety.

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I'm in the exact same position with my mom. She's had a really tough time through this, and she already was sick of her job as it was (30 year career)