Does Housing Density Contribute to Coronavirus Spread?

In order to comprehend California’s expansive COVID-19 numbers, it's important to understand the role density plays. Jackie Botts and Kate Cimini report for CalMatters.

Flores Contreras’ housing conditions put him at high risk: The poorest ZIP codes with the most people living in crowded housing are suffering the most from the coronavirus, according to an analysis of housing and health data by The California Divide, a statewide media collaboration. The millions of Californians who live in overcrowded houses are more likely to be infected.

The hardest-hit neighborhoods had three times the rate of overcrowded homes and twice the rate of poverty as the neighborhoods that have largely escaped the virus, according to the analysis. And the neighborhoods with the most infections are disproportionately populated by people of color.

“Drive 22 miles west, and you’ll arrive in Carmel-by-the-Sea, a wealthy live-oaked, cobblestone-paved hamlet of fewer than 4,000 people on the edge of the Pacific. The streets are narrow, the houses are worth millions of dollars and many are walled off from view.

Here, just under 4% of homes are crowded, a stark contrast to the numbers squeezed into the Alisal. Fewer than five people (the county’s reporting cutoff) have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, compared with 233 in the Alisal’s ZIP code as of June 9, according to the Monterey County Public Health Department.

Social distancing is especially hard for essential workers, who must leave their homes regularly to keep the rest of the U.S. fed and sheltered. More than 158,000 people over the age of 65 live in a crowded home where at least one member is an essential worker.

“More than a third of California’s labor force works in jobs that mean they must be physically present, such as farming, fishing or forestry. And almost a third of farmworkers and restaurant workers live in overcrowded homes. According to an analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), essential workers are more likely than nonessential workers to live in overcrowded housing—16% versus 12%.