COVID-19 has had a terrible impact on both the Philippines and the United States.
Filipino Americans are dying at a 40% mortality rate, significantly higher than the overall 3.7% mortality rate in the US, according to research by Johns Hopkins.
Why are they dying at a significantly higher rate? Because Filipino American’s are the soldiers in the American battle against COVID-19.
In New York, 34 percent of all Filipinos serve in the health care industry.
In California, 20 percent of all registered nurses are of Philippine ancestry.
Often serving without appropriate personal protective equipment, Filipino Americans have been on the front lines of this war and have paid a heavy price.
Source: https://www.kanlungan.net/data
Filipino frontline nurses, doctors, and healthcare employees have worked around the clock to save others, often sleeping two or three hours a night and going right back into battle. Lacking adequate personal protective equipment, many of them have also become victims of the disease. A Los Angeles based website called Kanglungan has tracked these deaths in powerful and painful detail. It shows hundreds of faces of these heroes—the kind of kind, optimistic and calming faces one hopes to see when they go to the hospital.
We have created the Filipino Frontline Workers Fund to honor their sacrifice and provide educational scholarships and emergency relief for their children. The initial goal of the fund is to provide support to 100 families. If funds are available, that number will be increased.
Credit: Maria Tan/AFP/Getty Images