Latino leaders urge promotion of free tests
PHOENIX — When some 45,000 coronavirus test kits went unused during a 12-day testing blitz in Phoenix’s hardesthit Latino neighborhoods, it was clear Arizona health officials failed to adequately spread the word to a community that’s often distrustful of government.
On the last day of testing in a state that’s a national COVID19 hot spot, just four vehicles lined up on a sweltering morning while a half-dozen uniformed members of the Arizona National Guard milled outside large white tents at a huge desert park in Phoenix.
State officials said only about 15,000 of 60,000 test kits were used at South Mountain Park and Preserve and in the western Phoenix neighborhood of Maryvale before testing ended Tuesday. It shows government officials’ limitations in promoting the availability of health care resources to communities of color during the pandemic and the hesitancy from those often most at risk from COVID-19 even if they know about those options.
“There’s a lot of lack of information from the government, a lot of chaos and a lot of false positive tests creating distrust,” said Antonio Velasquez, an evangelical pastor and Guatemalan community leader who’s recovering from the virus that hospitalized him for two days. “Many people would prefer to not get tested.”
Community leaders said many Latinos who found out about the testing events still stayed away, unnerved by uniformed military and police or the initial requests for IDs and pre-registration. Some people lack internet access to register online and those without legal status can be wary of giving their names to authorities. The National Guard was a major partner at the event, which later dropped those conditions.
Latino leaders in Arizona say they want to help, especially in
Phoenix, where 43% of the population identifies as Hispanic. Latinos are disproportionately at risk for the virus because of health problems like diabetes, a tendency to live in larger groups and be employed in hospitality and other work that puts them in contact with more people.
“We’d like to partner more with the state to better educate our communities about testing opportunities and how people can better protect themselves,” said state Sen. Tony Navarrete, one of the Latino lawmakers and health care leaders who discussed the issue with Gov. Doug Ducey’s staff in a recent online conference.
Effective messaging for Latinos about the virus also has been a challenge in other U.S. communities, said Gilberto Lopez, a public health researcher for the University of California, Merced. He saw the same distrust of government while surveying Latinos in California’s Central Valley about their perceptions of COVID-19.
“The governments generally don’t really do a good job at communicating or understanding the communities they serve,” Lopez said.
The Arizona Department of Health Services, which held the testing blitz with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, translated materials and sent news releases to Spanish-language TV stations.
But groups close to the Latino community typically go further. Valle del Sol Community Health in Phoenix has promoted events on the social media accounts of a former Spanish-language news anchor and influencer with tens of thousands of followers. City spokesman Alejandro Montiel promotes Phoenix events in interviews on Spanish radio.
State health spokeswoman Holly Poynter said in a statement that the agency worked with community groups to share information on social media. The National Guard says the remaining tests will be used in other Arizona counties.