Mapping Los Angeles’ Unequal COVID-19 Surge Not long after those first cases were found, experts began warning about how it would disproportionately hurt poorer people, whose jobs were likely to be deemed essential, and who were likely to be members of communities of color. But what’s been less discussed is the role of deeply rooted inequality — long magnified in California — in driving the rampant spread of the virus. New York Times Representative image. It’s been slightly more than a year since what we used to call the novel coronavirus was first detected in California. Not long after those first cases were found, experts began warning about how it would disproportionately hurt poorer people, whose jobs were likely to be deemed essential, and who were likely to be members of communities of color.