Raysa S. Rodriguez, the Associate Executive Director for Policy & Advocacy at Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, testified to the New York City Council Committee on Oversight and Investigations regarding the disparate impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

Raysa testified that while the COVID-19 virus doesn’t discriminate, Black and Latino New Yorkers are hospitalized and dying from the virus at approximately twice the rate of White and Asian residents.

She points to data that illustrate conditions faced by families before the pandemic, like overcrowded housing, poor health and economic insecurity, that can explain the disparate impact across communities.