The virus comes for California Pacific Islanders

The Mission district mass COVID-19 tests I wrote about yesterday turned up that 5 percent among the infected slice of my neighbors are "Asian or Pacific Islander." I'm always curious what actual ethnic or country origins are hidden under that sweeping but uninformative label.

Reporting by CalMatters presents one possible answer. The arrival of coronavirus has shown that, within the omnibus category, too many Pacific Islanders in California reside in a "public health blind spot."

As of Sunday, the novel coronavirus had infected Pacific Islanders at a rate more than twice that of the state as a whole — and killed them at a rate 2.6 times higher, the highest rates of any racial or ethnic group.

While the numbers are still small — California reported 416 known cases and 20 deaths among Pacific Islanders — they reveal a growing threat in a community that suffers disproportionately high rates of chronic illness, accustomed to living in multigenerational households and work higher-risk jobs such as food service, transportation and health care that can’t be done from home.

Activist leaders have been asking for better counting and more educational focus on this small community for a long time -- without notable success.

“Given the spread like fire of this pandemic, the urgency has been magnified,” [Natalie] Ah Soon [of the Regional Pacific Islander Task Force] said.

Statewide, only a handful of counties disaggregate Pacific Islander data. Many don’t report race or ethnicity at all. For example, Santa Clara combines data for Pacific Islanders with Asians. In Sacramento County, Pacific Islanders are counted as “Other.”

“We are not currently tailoring any outreach to this community because of the very small percentage it makes up of the population and impact,” said Sacramento spokeswoman Janna Haynes. Pacific Islanders comprise 1.7% of the county population.

These days, the community has a champion who has been there himself. Dr. Raynald Samoa is an endocrinologist at a cancer research hospital in Los Angeles. In late March, he fell ill with COVID19. Having recovered, he is seeking to educate his community, especially traditionalists for whom social distancing violates habits and customs.

"Jesus sent me to medical school to tell you to stay home."