Khurram Shehzad
Aren’t you scared of Coronavirus, I asked Shahzaib Malik, the salesman in a rest area at New Jersey Turnpike.
“Of course, I am but I can’t stay home so I am here and working, Shahzaib replied sadly. What if he contracted the virus, I asked again.
“I don’t know, I don’t have the medical insurance. …. so maybe I will die at home thinking it is a common flu,” responded.
Malik in fact resonates fears and concerns of scores of low-income, poor and undocumented residents who may suffer disproportionately if hit by the deadly virus – either for lack of treatment or disruptions to their livelihoods.
Here in the USA, America, more than 60% of over 13 million undocumented residents are living without any health coverages. Similarly, as many as 23% of legal immigrants do not possess any medical coverage (according to a 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation) .
Today, if you walk into any medical facility and you don’t have medical insurance, you must pay the minimum cost which is $1300 to get tested for Coronavirus.
Predicament of the Poor
Most of the low-wage jobs in retail and service industries in the USA do not provide sick paid leave. Often, rigid workplace environments prevents immigrants from reporting their illnesses. They commute in public transport, which can hasten exposure or spread infection. The living conditions of most of these people are unhealthy. For those living paycheck to paycheck, it’s difficult to voluntarily take time off when a week’s wages could make a difference in their ability to pay rent.
Further, as schools are closed – which means no breakfast and free lunch for children – the costs and stress to parents and children has increased. If shuttered schools conduct online classes, many low-income students will be left out because many may have no computers.
When I recently visited a shelter home in Herndon, Virginia to get first-hand information about prevention exercises, I was shocked to know that “freehand sanitizer spray puff” was the only prevention method they were using. A staff member told me that they had been by a service center that washing hands was the best prevention against COVID!(.
On Feb 24, President Donald Trump had a new bill passed which makes it harder for immigrants to obtain a green card if they’ve sought government help . Since then, people had been dropping out of Medicaid as the Covid-19 cases began to surface in early March.
Moreover, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have speeded up its operations in recent years which has created an atmosphere of fear, undocumented immigrants are hesitant to go to any health care facilities for fear of being reported, even though community clinics are safe places that do not ask for citizenship status.
New York, Washington, and California have waived this cost using the state’s special funding. For US citizens and permanent residents, any tests performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are free. Medicaid and Medicare will cover testing costs.
For low-income families, especially the immigrants, prevention and testing of Covid-19 isn’t something they can take for granted. In California, for example, where the government is participating in treatment, it will cost up to $200 for uninsured patients to get tested for the Coronavirus, which means they wouldn’t be able to buy groceries, pay phone bills, etc. for the next two weeks.
Immigrant Communities’ Response
Over time, Immigrant communities have set up their own workarounds for such situations. Muslim Community Center (MCC) clinic in Maryland is providing 100% free medical services without asking the patient’s citizenship status. Similarly, the Jewish community has its free medical facilities in Brooklyn, New York. But the fact of the matter is, there’s only so much these clinics can do, however, without further support at the federal level.
“Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is one of the biggest Muslim charity and disaster response organizations. We have been releasing awareness videos, distributing hand sanitizers and related kits free of costs”, said ICNA’s director information and outreach Moviz Saddique.
Pakistan Embassy Response
After President Trump declared a national emergency, I reached out to the Embassy of Pakistan to inquire about actions the embassy has taken to safeguard the lives of Pakistani students, visitors and others living with different resident statuses. I was given few tweets of the Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan which were primarily about embassy visa services during this outbreak, some canceled events/meetings and precautions that could be used including the use of online services. There was nothing mentioned about communication or coordination with the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) who is very active when it comes to a crisis like this. Maybe the embassy is not required to do so.
It is a sad reflection on how our diplomatic missions function.
Based on what is happening to the low-income and undocumented residents within the USA, one can safely say that if the freedom of information may be a problem in China, the inequalities and the massive disparities in the way people are treated depending on their economic circumstances and their immigration status is the reality of America. The coronavirus, of course, does not discriminate on those grounds and having large sections of society being unable to see a doctor is suddenly in focus as not just being bad for the individuals themselves, but for the country a whole.
