Latinos return to markets, eateries despite pandemic
The entrance door to the Los Altos Ranch Market restaurant is closed. On the door, there’s a sign saying the restaurant is closed to dine-in, that only take-away orders are offered. To get your order, you have to enter through the main door of the market and then go to the food area and line up to order.
Despite the messages, a dozen or so people are eating at tables without being disturbed, without gloves and without social distancing.
“The coronavirus is leaving,” said Joel Garcia, smiling as he enjoyed $1 steak tacos for Taco Tuesday. “I take care of myself, wash my hands and try to avoid crowds of people, and I rarely go out to lunch like now.”
While families eating at the restaurant were not complying with measures suggested by the health authorities to protect against COVID-19, the restaurant staff did meet the standards by having all its cooks and dispatchers with face masks and gloves, in addition to having marks on the floor for customers keep 6 feet apart from one another when they line up.
Since Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey gave the green light to barbershops, beauty salons, and other nonessential businesses to open their doors, more people are on the streets.
“It is a bittersweet emotion,” said Alejandra Vargas, who owns the ‘El y Ella’ beauty salon located in 16th Street and Palm Lane, in Phoenix. “We are pleased to be able to reopen our businesses but we are concerned that people will not come, for fear of the coronavirus don’t want to come.”
Although her business is meeting state-mandated hygiene and safety standards, she says people are afraid to go.
“It will not be the same as before,” she says.
In Arizona, 31.6% of the population is Latino. According to the Center for Disease Control, as of May 8, more than 17% of the deaths recorded in Arizona due to COVID-19 have occurred among Latinos.
Latino workforce is essential
Janet Murguía, president of UnidosUS, which brings together about 250 community groups, said Latinos are at the forefront of the pandemic in essential jobs like health care and the food supply chain, but they also represent large numbers of workers who have lost their jobs in industries that have been devastated by COVID-19, such as tourism and restaurants.
“The Latino community has taken an enormous hit from the COVID-19 crisis, in terms of both finances and health,” says Murguía. “But we have yet to see an intentional effort from the federal government to specifically address the community’s concerns even though so many Hispanics are on the front lines in helping to keep everyone fed, healthy and safe.
Research conducted by UnidosUS last month shows that 61% of Latino households lost income as a result of the pandemic, number that Murguía said exposes the need for all Latinos, including undocumented immigrants, to be included in the new economic stimulus packages.
Ducey’s announcement this week gives a light at the end of the tunnel to some Latinos in Arizona, with the hope to recover what has been lost so far.
“More than joy, it gives us hope that things will go better now that business reopens,” said Juan Esteban, who works as a day laborer in West Phoenix. “The fact that businesses are open means that there will be more people on the street and hopefully it will be reflected in more work for us.
A return to normal?
Ducey declared the end of the executive order to stay home this Friday. This means that most businesses would be reopening — if they consider it necessary — as of this Friday.
“I have heard that people say that it will be a return to normality but I do not think so,” said Alonso Espinoza, 44, a resident of Avondale and father of 3. “I believe that nothing will ever be the same, we will live with that fear of being infected, if not for the coronavirus for something else. “
With the relaxation of measures, there is the possibility that the number of infections will continue to rise, as the federal authorities warn.
“The economic opening of the United States could be hasty and could cause unnecessary suffering and death,” infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said in a conference call this week. “If we omit the checkpoints in the guidelines, we are at risk of multiple outbreaks across the country. This will not only result in unnecessary suffering and death, but will actually slow us down in our quest to return to normal. ”