A study conducted in San Francisco’s Mission District in August has found continued high rates of COVID-19 transmission among Latino workers.
Tests conducted at BART’s 24th Street Mission Station showed a positive test rate of 9%, compared to 2.6% in San Francisco’s population overall. The vast majority of those who tested positive at the site were Latino (93%), speak Spanish as their preferred language (85%), make less than $50,000 a year (87%) and live in high-density households (79%).
The study, which has not been published yet, tested 2,622 people overall, most of whom were residents of San Francisco. The work is a partnership between UCSF and the Latino Task Force for COVID-19, called Unidos en Salud.
Researchers cautioned that because the tests were available to everyone, it’s likely that those who suspected they were sick were overrepresented, making them an unreflective “sample of Mission residents or public transit riders in general,” UCSF said.
Jon Jacobo, the health committee chair of the task force, called the results “deeply painful” and “deeply frustrating to see that we, from April to now, have not been able to get a grip or a handle on something like COVID-19.”
Previous testing in the largely Latino Mission District showed similarly disproportionate numbers.
Study authors say their findings reinforce the need for timely test results, low-barrier testing in places like a centrally located transit station, and social support to help people isolate if necessary.
— Laura Klivans (@lauraklivans)