#AyudaEnEspañol Campaign Launched to Keep Hispanics in the US Updated About COVID-19
The call for COVID-related material in multiple languages to serve the US minorities from different regions of the world, including Hispanics, is pertinent as ever.
Having not enough information being circulated in non-English speaking communities is one of the first concerns of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a recently published article, Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Joaquín Castro (D-Texas), emphasized that it was the government's primary responsibility to ensure that Hispanics, had access to resources that kept them safe and aware of public health precautions being taken around the country, especially as the latest report suggests that COVID-19 has affected black and Latino communities in the United States the most.
In New York City, almost 34 percent of COVID-19 deaths have been Latinx individuals, and the numbers also mean that the virus is killing black and Latino patients at twice the rate of whites.
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As of this writing, an online dashboard shows there are already 772,665 COVID-19 cases in the USA, with 41,155 and 70,859 recoveries.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has made efforts to include more translated material on its website, and other organizations have stepped in to make sure that language barriers aren't an issue for people looking to get more information in the Spanish language.
One of those entities is the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which recently partnered with Hornitos Tequila to launch a social media campaign and user kit called #AyudaEnEspañol, that aims to make critical information accessible to Spanish-speaking individuals.
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The online kit, which is accessible at https://lulac.org/covid19/espanol/, is made up of more than 40 pages of consolidated COVID-19-related resources from government and CDC sites, and also includes critical information about how to access and apply for government benefits, how to get help for seniors, and what to do to secure other benefits and job training.
LULAC is encouraging people to share a link to the site with the hashtag #AyudaEnEspañol to spread the word.
Latino actor Emilio Rivera also promoted the campaign through an Instagram post with the caption:
"I've been getting messages that a lot of our a Spanish speaking community are not getting the benefits they are entitled to during the Covid-19 because of the language barrier.Please go to lulac.org/ayudaenespanol They are there to help, Please pass the word around . Much Love and Respect Always. #AyudaEnEspanol - He Estabo recibiendo mesajes de que muchos en Nuestra comunidad de habla hispana no estan recibiendo los beneficios a los que tiene derecho durante El Covid-19 por barreras de idioma ,Por Favor visita lulac.org/AyudaEnEspanol estan para ayudarte ,Por Favor Corre La Voz . Con Mucho Amor y Respeto Siempre . #Emiliorivera #elpadrino #Ayudaenespañol"
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Meanwhile, medical students from Harvard Medical School and physicians also launched the COVID-19 Health Literacy Project, which contains information in 35 languages, including Navajo, Swahili, and Creole, to address other minorities.
Despite these efforts, resources for Latinos who speak native or Indigenous languages remain limited and a challenge yet to be addressed by authorities.