Loss in Lodi (2020)
The COVID-19 pandemic has become the biggest event in recent history and has had devastating effects on the entire world. In the United States, existing healthcare disparities have been magnified.
Maria Miranda and her family live in Lodi, California, a small agricultural city in San Joaquin county. Latinos make up 39% of Lodi’s population, yet accounts for 75% of all COVID-19 hospitalizations here.
This work is part of a 2020 commission from Emerson Collective.
Nationwide, communities of color have seen case and death rates exceed that of white communities; with the Latino population bearing the brunt of this imbalance. Since the onset of the pandemic, California’s rural San Joaquin Valley has continued to be one of the hardest hit regions in the state.
After losing her mother to COVID-19 this past Summer, Maria is doing her best to remain resilient as cases begin to spike again. She spreads awareness within her community to take the pandemic seriously, saying “If they’re telling you to use a mask, then use it. Not just for me, but for the ones I love.”