‘Coronavirus doesn’t care if you’re documented’: AOC rails against prison labour, US healthcare and child homelessness in Q&A

New York congresswoman warns about outbreak’s ‘systemic’ threat as ‘rough’ election primaries reflect ‘stark’ generational divide

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has stressed the importance of a public healthcare system and safety-net programmes as New York faces a growing number of coronavirus cases.

In a live Instagram question-and-answer session with her followers, the progressive New York congresswoman said it’s understandable that the closure of the city’s massive public school system would be a “last resort” decision, which could endanger children experiencing homelessness or children from poor households who rely on school meals, without a meaningful public health response to care for them.

She also said undocumented people should be able to access healthcare despite pressure to avoid alerting authorities to their status: “Disincentivising our immigrant neighbours from seeking healthcare is wrong ... Healthcare is a human right for all people. Coronavirus doesn’t care if you’re documented or undocumented.”

More than 170 cases have been confirmed in the state and 2,000 city residents are under quarantine, as officials weigh their response to combat an outbreak in a city of 8.6 million people, many of whom rely on public transit. More than 100 of those cases are in Westchester County, north of the city.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said while there is an individual risk of infection, “more than that, there’s a systemic risk component” that’s not about “a disease that will be fatal to you” but how the country responds to overcrowded and overstressed institutions, including hospitals and nursing homes.

She urged New Yorkers to consider patronising Chinese and Asian restaurants, which she said have faced “straight-up racism” in the wake of the virus’ emergence from China, and to eat locally and tip well, as the outbreak is likely to significantly impact tipped-wage workers who don’t receive paid sick leave.

Her Q&A went live as results from Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential primary elections trickled in, with Joe Biden declaring victory in several states, including battleground Michigan, which his rival Bernie Sanders narrowly won in the 2016 primary.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who campaigned for Mr Sanders in 2016 and 2020, said: “There’s no sugar-coating it. Tonight’s a tough night.”

She pointed to a “stark” generational divide in the Democratic party — in Michigan, early exit polls showed that nearly 70 per cent of voters who supported the Vermont senator were under 45. But she also pointed to exit polls that showed, in most primary states thus far, that a majority of voters largely agree with Mr Sanders’ signature policies, including Medicare for All and a Green New Deal to combat the climate crisis.

The congresswoman said that voters feeling discouraged by the results — which give the former vice president a decisive lead — have also felt their voice left out of the primary process, particularly in states where votes are cast much later than in the Super Tuesday primaries.

But “we have a lot of work we have to do right now”, she said.

As for her political aspirations, she said: “I wanna level with all of you... I’m not a person who aspires to position. I aspire to a mission. We have a lot of issues in our country right now, and we need to address those issues. We can’t swing from one saviour to another.”

The answer to “who is going to save us” is “you”, she said. “If you think democracy is a set-and-forget it kind of thing ... that’s not the mentality necessary for us to actually win on the real issues.”