Dr. Diya Abdo calls COVID-19 “anything but the great equalizer.” As the pandemic unfolded in the United States, many people bemoaned quarantine and self-isolation, but as the director of the UNCG Center for New North Carolinians points out, those are luxuries that many others can’t afford.
Immigrants, refugees, those in substandard housing, and low-paid and uninsured workers were among the groups most impacted by necessary closures. They were also more vulnerable to the illness due to employment and living conditions, and lack of health care and health care supplies.
As infrastructures stalled or failed, it became clear that communities served by UNCG centers were in the middle of Guilford County’s COVID-19 “hot spots.” Directors and their staff had to move quickly, in ways outside of their usual “accompaniment model” of service.