More than 30% of the population in the county are Latino, but they also comprise 53% of the COVID-19 patients in both Austin and Travis and account for 38% of the deaths. The data, gathered on Sunday, suggested a lack of measures that help the local Latino community against the coronavirus.

Lack of communication

Groups advocating for Latino representation in the county are working on coordination with the mayor's office in the development of a "culturally relevant" system. The plan is to come up with a way for the locals to get updated information about infection and safety and medical assistance in the community.

President and CEO of the Latino Healthcare Forum Jill Ramirez explained how the Latinos were being underserved at the same time ignorant about the nature of the pandemic.

Ramirez said in an interview that the locals barely had an idea what the coronavirus was, with some saying they thought it was a myth. She attributed this misinformation to Facebook, which was the common means of getting information in the community. Most of the locals did not even practice social distancing and wear masks when going outside.

She said authorities must respond to the community's needs by handing out basic medical necessities like face masks, sanitizers, and soap. This included providing the Latinos more information about the decrease in bills and other payments per the local authorities' initiatives.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler was the main person to contact with regards to the city's Latino community. The services that were not made available to them must be addressed to immediately by Adler and the City Council.

Ramirez acknowledged that the Austin authorities "did something good". Their top priority was to judge the economic impact, and so they provided relief packages to the Latino community. However, they must still reach out to them through updates about safety and prevention from the coronavirus, of which many of the locals had no idea.

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Disproportionately affected

Chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Contractors Association Frank Fuentes said the city government was not receptive to the locals. He added that they could not always see everything on the ground.

Fuentes said that they returned his phone calls, but their response was disproportionate to the need of the community.

He said that the authorities should have initiated disseminating information about the risks and cautionary measures against COVID-19 to the working groups in the Latino communities. Fuentes believed that government communication would have resulted in fewer cases for the minority group in the city.

His group has started to donate face masks to the community to address the "disproportionate" effect on Latinos.

Specifically, Fuentes said that people must also be informed how to disinfect once they come home. He launched a YouTube channel in both English and Spanish that provided instructions about how to deal with coronavirus as a citizen in Austin. He even added measures on how to counter the virus while at the construction sites to target Latino blue-collar workers.