Thread by @therecount

It’s well-known the COVID death toll in America bears disproportionately on people of color.

Now, a jarring report shows nearly a third of the nurses who have died from COVID are Filipino — though Filipinos account for only 4% of nurses nationwide.
cnn.com/2020/11/24/hea…

Filipino nurses migrated to the U.S. after WWII to fill a demand for health care workers.

During its colonial rule, the U.S. set up an Americanized nursing curriculum in the Philippines — and it’s been the leading exporter of nurses to America ever since.
news.berkeley.edu/2019/05/28/fil…

So why the shocking death toll? Let’s start with the inequitable distribution of Filipinos across health care.

A report found they’re more likely to be placed in ICUs, ERs, and long-term care facilities, making them more likely to be exposed to COVID.
nationalnursesunited.org/sites/default/…

Then there’s the “Filipino American health paradox,” a term coined by the co-director of @BrownPHIRST:

While Filipinos are major health care providers, they face chronic health disparities — like predispositions to diabetes and heart disease, both often deadly in COVID.

There are other theories, mostly around geography and culture, but what it comes down to is this:

People are dying. Families are struggling. And Americans who are helping patients win their battle against COVID are losing it themselves.