HINOJOSA: I'M MARIA HINOJOSA.

WELL, IT'S A STRANGE SCENE.

TODAY, THE STREETS ARE NEARLY EMPTY, AND AS THE THREAT OF THE NOVEL CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC CONTINUES, MANY PEOPLE HAVE STAYED HOME, BUT NOT EVERYONE.

WOMAN: WE RETURN NOW TO COVID-19 AND THE ENORMOUS TOLL IT IS TAKING, PARTICULARLY ON PEOPLE OF COLOR.

HINOJOSA: LATINOS AND AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE GETTING THE HARDEST HIT.

THESE WERE NUMBERS THAT WERE VERY CLEAR.

MAN: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER ON TUESDAY MANDATING THAT U.S. MEAT PROCESSING PLANTS MUST STAY OPEN DURING THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS, DESPITE CONCERNS THAT FOOD-PROCESSING WORKERS WILL BECOME INFECTED AT WORK.

HINOJOSA: I HAD JUST FINISHED REPORTING A STORY AT THE CHICKEN PROCESSING PLANTS IN MISSISSIPPI WHERE THE RAIDS HAD OCCURRED A YEAR BEFORE, AND I JUST REMEMBER THINKING, "OH, MY GOD, "IF THIS VIRUS GETS TO THESE SMALL TOWNS OF MISSISSIPPI "WHERE EVERYBODY IS PACKED IN LIKE SARDINES "WORKING AT THE CHICKEN PROCESSING PLANTS, "PLEASE DON'T LET IT GET THERE.

PLEASE DON'T LET IT GET THERE," AND OF COURSE IT'S GOTTEN THERE, AND OF COURSE PEOPLE HAVE GOTTEN SICK, AND OF COURSE, OF COURSE PEOPLE HAVE DIED THERE.

WHEN I WAS REPORTING, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU-- AND I THINK THAT THIS IS PART OF THE CONVERSATION-- I DID FEEL A LITTLE BIT INVINCIBLE.

IT'S ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE YOU'RE LIKE, "IT'S JUST NEVER GONNA HAPPEN TO ME.

BASICALLY, I WAS SICK FOR ABOUT 30 DAYS.

BEAUTIFUL MORNING, EVERYONE.

LISTEN.

I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW, I DID SURVIVE THE CORONAVIRUS, THE COVID-19 ILLNESS IN A PANDEMIC, AND I FEEL SO THANKFUL TO ALL OF YOU AND TO MY ANCESTORS AND TO MY LOVED ONES ON THE OTHER SIDE WHO PROTECTED ME.

I LOVE YOU.

WE GOT THIS.

WOMAN: ...HERE DON'T QUALIFY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT OR THE FEDERAL STIMULUS, LIKE ROSA, WHO WAS... HINOJOSA: IN THE BEGINNING OF ALL OF THIS, WE WERE JUST SO OVERWHELMED BY EVERYTHING THAT WAS HAPPENING, BUT JOURNALISTS THEN STARTED TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT PEOPLE OF COLOR-- BLACK PEOPLE, LATINOS, WHAT WERE THE BREAKDOWNS, AND I REMEMBER THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION.

I REMEMBER GOVERNOR CUOMO HANDING IT OVER TO HIS SPOKESPERSON, WHO WOULD JUST SAY, "WELL, WE DON'T HAVE THAT BREAKDOWN YET," AND JUST KIND OF THINKING, "WELL, HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE THAT BREAKDOWN?"

AND THEN THE STORIES STARTED TO COME OUT, AND THE DATA WAS THERE.

O'DONNELL: THE CDC SAYS, LATINOS REPRESENT MORE THAN 27% OF COVID DEATHS IN HOT SPOTS.

HINOJOSA: I BECAME PERSONALLY OBSESSED WITH WANTING TO UNDERSTAND WHO WAS IN THE INTENSIVE CARE UNITS, SO WE DID.

WE WENT INSIDE BY PHONE, AND I ASKED A DOCTOR TO DESCRIBE WHO'S THERE... COHEN: IN MY EXPERIENCE HERE AT BELLEVUE, IT DOES FEEL LIKE SPECIFICALLY LATINO MEN, PEOPLE WHO WERE WORKING IN THEIR JOB UNTIL THE DAY THEY GOT SICK.

HINOJOSA: AND I JUST REMEMBER THINKING, "MY GOD, WHAT IS HAPPENING?"

SO I STARTED TO TELL THOSE STORIES ON "LATINO USA."

AT THE PEAK OF THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK IN NEW YORK CITY, BLACK AND LATINO PATIENTS WERE DYING AT TWICE THE RATE OF OTHER PATIENTS.

WOMAN: THE PROBLEM IS THAT A LOT OF IMMIGRANTS ARE UNINSURED.

23% OF IMMIGRANTS WITH LEGAL STATUS AND 45% OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS DO NOT HAVE INSURANCE.

HINOJOSA: THERE'S A SAYING IN MEXICAN SPANISH-- "NO HAY MAL QUE POR BIEN NO VENGA," "THERE IS NO BAD FROM WHICH GOOD CANNOT COME," AND ONE THING THAT HAS DEFINITELY HAPPENED IS THAT PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY, I HOPE, THINK A LOT ABOUT WHAT AN ESSENTIAL WORKER IS AND WHAT THEIR FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN LOOKS LIKE.

THESE ARE THE MOST INVISIBLE PEOPLE, AND THEY ARE SERVICING US.

THEY WERE DELIVERING YOUR FOOD.

THEY WERE STILL CLEANING YOUR APARTMENT.

THEY WERE TAKING CARE OF YOUR CHILDREN.

THEY WERE MAKING YOUR FOOD.

THEY WERE PICKING YOUR FOOD, SO, FOR ME, I'M HOPING THAT THIS IS A MOMENT WHERE PEOPLE JUST, YOU KNOW, AT A MINIMUM SAY THANK YOU, LOOKING OUT AROUND US AT THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE KEPT THIS COUNTRY GOING IN THIS PANDEMIC, AND IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO SEE WHO THEY ARE.