LINCOLN- Data released this week by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services illustrate that COVID-19 has hit people of color — particularly Latinos — disproportionately hard. Almost 60% of Nebraskans with confirmed cases identify as Hispanic, though they make up about only 11% of the state’s population. Latinos also account for more than a quarter of the state’s deaths from the coronavirus.

Part of the disparity stems from the fact that meatpacking plants were hot spots for the spread of COVID-19, and they rely on a largely immigrant labor force.

Though Gov. Pete Ricketts and some public health departments declined to identify the number of positive tests connected to specific locations, some companies and health officials chose to release figures. In a late May news conference, Ricketts said 11 meatpacking workers had died of COVID-19.

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