Nevada’s army of essential workers have not only kept the wheels of daily life going for all Nevadans, they’ve helped the state maintain the look and feel of normalcyduring a global pandemic and an historic budget shortfall in the state.

They are the staff in grocery stores, convenience stores, pharmacies. They work in janitorial services, public transit, trucking, warehouses and postal services. They assist with health care, child care and social services, and, combined, they have been identified as working on the “frontlines” of the pandemic in a newly published report by Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, an independent, bi-partisan institute. 

These essential workers are exposed to COVID-19 more than most Nevadans, the report found.  A majority of these workers are from Black, Asian and Latino communities, and they are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus disease in both death rates and rates of infection.

“While it is too soon to assess the full extent of the impacts of COVID-19, historical data indicate that communities of color tend to be disproportionately affected by economic crises,” the report noted.

Read the entire article at This Is Reno.

This portion of the article is shared as part of our collaboration with This Is Reno. This story was originally published on September 7. It was written by Sudhiti Naskar.