Why the Latin American community in Toronto has been hit hard by COVID

Single mother Lizbeth Leon Adame, from Mexico, walks with her daughter Lizbetha after getting a COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic planned for and organized by the Latino community, an ethno-racial group more at risk of hospitalization from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) according to city of Toronto data, in Toronto, Canada May 15, 2021. Lizbeth and her family contracted and beat COVID-19 before the vaccination. Picture taken May 15, 2021.REUTERS/Carlos Osorio/File Photo

TORONTO (Reuters) - In a pandemic that has hit marginalized people hardest, Latin Americans in Canada's largest urban area have been particularly at risk: They're more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than any other ethnoracial group, according to the most recent data available from the city of Toronto.

They work front-line jobs, live in often crowded homes, use public transit and are often reluctant to seek out care - possibly because of precarious immigration status, advocates say.