More than 1 million Angelenos have been infected with COVID-19, and more than 4 out of 5 of those cases have been racial and ethnic minorities. Prior to COVID-19, the urban spatial structure — the geographic location of people and activities and the ways they are connected — has played a fundamental role in the production of a systematic web of interlocking race and class inequalities. The pandemic has further exacerbated these disparities.

Paul Ong, PhD, director of the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, has taken an empirical approach and looks at available pre-pandemic analytical tools used by public agencies such as the CDC. The tools he found had limited accuracy and consistency in identifying the residential spaces of disadvantaged racial and ethnic groups, particularly smaller groups like NHPIs, American Indians, and various Asian subgroups.