ALBANY – During the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic, Micky Jiminez said his phone line was stuck with pain and confusion.
After Latinos in the Capital District, a cultural and resource center for the Latino community, closed in March, Latinos in the capital region were physically isolated from the data and resources they needed to cope with the pandemic.
Jiminez, who is the executive director of the nonprofit, was hit by the number of other people who had lost their jobs and were hungry, did not perceive the risks of COVID-19, had no non-public protective devices and did not know where to seek physical attention, or if they can.
Jimenez said the local government’s reach to the Latino network over the pandemic was incredibly inadequate.
“We’ve been at the Department of Health, trying to make them aware that our network wants linguistically appropriate messages,” said Dan Irizarry, a member of the Capital District’s Latino Board, pointing to what he sees as non-existent bilingual public health. messages. ” We have a very giant network of immigrants from Central and South America, so they don’t have English skills that would be enough for them to perceive what they want to do to save coVID and be examined and treated by COVID. “
The Latin American network has also been greatly affected by infection rates and unemployment across the country, making network messages and awareness of the deadly virus much more critical. In Albany County alone, Latinos accounted for 9% of positive COVID-19 cases in the county. 6% of the county’s total population.
Experts point to a variety of points that contribute to the effect of COVID-19 on Latinos; for example, Latinos are disproportionately represented in the main workforce in the United States, making the population more exposed to the virus. Care is another challenge: 19% of Latinos had no fitness insurance in 2018 and eventually distrust in government, especially with more rhetoric and anti-immigrant policies in the existing federal administration, has made many Latinos less likely to seek physical care.
And it’s not just the end of Latino construction in the Capital District of Central Avenue that has been difficult for the Latin American community, but also the end of the churches.
“Many of them would depend on their churches because they would move on to Spanish services,” Jimenez said. “Many churches would at least have data and disseminate it in their language. But everything had stopped, so they had no one.
Even the COVID-19 posters at bus stops were published in English, Jiminez and Irizarry said.
In an email, Albany County spokeswoman Mary Rozak said Spanish speakers can visit the county’s website, where data is translated from disease control center posters and data videos in a variety of languages. They also published bilingual data on monetary aid during the pandemic. and updates on immigration and customs control in the United States.
Irizarry noted that most people do not have laptops, but their cell phones and attach to platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp.
In the early months of the pandemic, Latinos in the Capital District focused on seeking to fill this data gap: delivering PPE, educating the network about dressing up in masks and washing their hands, and what to do about it. ‘COVID-19 symptoms are appearing.
In a space visited through Jiminez to deliver food, he met an undocumented immigrant who had been exposed to COVID-19 through a colleague, but who had continued to paint because he had no insurance, he and four of the other seven classmates ended up in the hospital. with COVID-19, 3 of which had to be placed in the extensive care unit, Jiminez said.
“They didn’t speak English, and just because their symptoms were so severe, that’s how they ended up getting help,” he said.
When the county introduced cell testing sites in collaboration with the Whitney Young Health Center, in an effort to achieve greater success in disproportionately affected Latino and black communities, officials told Jiminez that they did not see many Latinos enjoying the site.
“I drove back and said, “Well, how do you do it?She remembers.
He then learned that the user had to bring his own interpreter to the sites, exposing the interpreters to the threat of contracting the virus, and that all the bureaucracy to finish was in English.
“No wonder he didn’t have a smart involvement,” Jimenez said. “We’ve translated forms, we’re going to organize a fitness event for Latino men, but we don’t have any money. “
More recently, Jiminez sent a letter to the county executive, Dan McCoy, on August 28, stating that, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, federally invested fitness service providers must provide language access facilities to patients. of a county worker in reaction indicating that his branch had no one to translate the forms, however, they would thank the CDL assistant for the translation. Jiminez said his nonprofit will be provided with money and resources so that he can marry such a company. .
Rozak stated that the translation would be obtained with the cell van and that Whitney Young’s online page lists the languages doctors speak.
“Albany County has worked with local refugee and immigrant organizations in other ways,” he said in an email. “We appreciate all the advice from our partners on how to serve their communities. “
Jiminez and Irizarry said Schenectady and Rensselaer counties had had a disappointing conscience among the Latino community.
Schenectady and Rensselaer counties distributed COVID-19 fabrics in languages, county spokespersons said.
Rich Crist, rensselaer County Chief Operating Officer, said his fitness branch had sent a Spanish-speaking worker to disseminate data on COVID-19. He said the county had won any court cases over the scope of his network.
“We ourselves like the voice in the desert screaming and fearing that there will be a greater challenge than any of us understand,” Irizarry said. “We are tired of having to jump up and down with the local government and other stakeholders to say, ‘When are you going to treat our network with respect and justice?”There comes a point where he’s going to ask us to act more. “