Reflections on COVID-19 Trends Among Latinos: The Evolving Story

Abstract: In this presentation, I provide my reflections on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Latino population and shifts that have taken place over time. The presentation begins with an overview of early data collection efforts drawing on information from state COVID-19 data portals and other data sources that became available. My work drew on these data sources to call attention to the disproportionate impact that the pandemic had on Latinos and other groups of color. The presentation provides an overview of the trends that have emerged including the pandemic’s challenge to the long-established Latino paradox, the demography of COVID-19 fatalities, geographic variations, and temporal patterns. The presentation concludes with the policy implications of this research and major research questions emerging from this analysis.

Rogelio Sáenz is a sociologist and demographer at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), where he is professor in the Department of Demography. He has written extensively in the areas of demography, Latina/os, race, inequality, immigration, COVID-19, health disparities, aging, public policy, and social justice. Sáenz is co-author of Latinos in the United States: Diversity and Change and co-editor of the International Handbook of the Demography of Race and Ethnicity. He has written widely over the last year and a half on the impact of COVID-19 on the Latino community. Sáenz regularly writes op-ed essays and research briefs for a variety of media and academic outlets throughout the country. Sáenz recently received the 2020 Saber es Poder Academic Excellence Award from the University of Arizona’s Department of Mexican American Studies and the 2021 Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association. He also was just selected for induction to the UTSA Academy of Distinguished Researchers.