A large swath of Southern California is failing to meet a new state health equity metric that ensures counties are helping poor communities of color most disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, creating new barriers to further reopening.
At least 12 counties — including four in Southern California — aren’t meeting the new metric, which is designed to ensure that test positivity rates in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods don’t significantly exceed a county’s overall rate. It measures the seven-day average positivity rate of a county’s lowest quartile based on the California Healthy Places index against the infection rate countywide.
“We all know that low-income Latino, Black and Pacific Islander Californians have been the hardest hit in this pandemic,” acting state health officer Dr. Erica Pan said during a news briefing this week.
“Our goal is to reduce disease transmission in all communities, especially those most at risk.”
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