“We are forced to live in these circumstances where we are basically all on top of each other,” she said. Guzman said. “There is no privacy.”
Almost everyone in the house came down with Covid-19. Me. Guzman believes the infections started when her daughter attended a small meal in June after the initial restrictions on the coronavirus were lifted. Me. Guzman had the worst and was hospitalized for nine days last summer. She needed supplemental oxygen months later.
In richer and whiter neighborhoods, people who become ill can easily isolate themselves and they often have jobs that offer benefits and enable them to work from home. “We can not do that,” she said. “We do not have that luxury. And that says a lot about the inequality that exists and the racism. This pandemic made the differences all the clearer. ”
With so many people in the home and so many getting sick and missing jobs, the money got tight. Utility bills skyrocketed and so did food costs, as family members relied on quarantine on delivery programs such as Postmates.
“Luckily we saved a little, but everything is gone now,” she said.
While Los Angeles officials are assessing the daily turmoil of cases and deaths, looking for any sign that the upswing is slowing down, Ms. Rivera still turned on the sirens.
With each ambulance passing by, Ms Rivera stops and wonders who is sick this time. Her lingering effects of the virus include loss of odor, and she is afraid of becoming infected again.
Before she goes to work on the bus every morning, she prays a short prayer and asks God to keep her safe.
But she does not leave it all in God’s hands. For protection, she always has extra face masks that she can carry around on the bus to those who need one.
Ana Facio-Krajcer contribution made.