COVID-19 has been devastating for everyone, but in the United States, there's one demographic hit

particularly hard. Latinos. According to the California Department of Public Health, Latinos

make up about 39% of the state's population, but nearly half of all cases and 45% of all deaths.

COVID preyed on a perfect storm of factors that made Latinos especially vulnerable to the pandemic.

Multigenerational households, crowded neighborhoods, essential jobs that required us to show up in person,

vaccine hesitancy among too many.

All of this made COVID's toll personal for nearly every Latino I know.

It goes beyond just getting the disease.

In my own life, I've known family friends who have died from it,

cousins who have been left incapacitated,

or people who survived the coronavirus,

but lost their jobs, their livelihoods, their sense of security.

And the devastation continues.

I'm Gustavariano.

You're listening to The Times, Daily News from the LA Times.

It's Friday, January 14th, 2022.

Late last year, my LA Times colleague, Alejandra Reyes Velarde,

did a big series on how COVID-19 hit Latinos in California.

She focused on families who have dealt with the pandemic in various ways.

Alejandra, welcome to the Times.

Thanks so much for having me.

So one of the stories you focused on was on the Valenzuela family.

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