Source: Aaron Sanchez-Guerra, NEWS & RECORD, 6/20/20


Like many Central American immigrants, José Cruz Hernández had lived for decades in the United States. He built a life first in California and then settled in North Carolina with his wife, Irma Ramos. They raised their three adolescent children in Asheboro. A month into the novel coronavirus pandemic, Irma and her husband caught the virus that causes COVID-19, an acute respiratory illness. She’s not sure if she got it in the furniture factory where she works — where she said at least five of her co-workers had tested positive. Taking Tylenol and resting for two weeks, she recovered, but her husband didn’t.

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