DHEC holds its first bilingual COVID-19 briefing for SC Latinos. Here’s what was asked
As a group, South Carolinas’s Hispanics and Latinos have been hit particularly hard by the conronavirus pandemic.
While they make up six percent of the state’s population, the group accounts for at least 11% of the total cases, according to Department of Health and Environmental Control statistics.
In an effort to reach this under-served population, DHEC on Wednesday held a video call in which experts on the COVID-19 crisis briefed Hispanic and Latino faith and business leaders on the progression of the virus, its disproportionate effect on Hispanics and Latinos and the steps people should take to curb the spread.
Roughly a hundred people tuned in for the call in which state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell and state director of public health Dr. Joan Duwve spoke and answered questions.
Dr. Arelis Moore de Peralta, professor of Spanish and Community Health at Clemson University, translated their words into Spanish.
It was the first event of its sort, said Laura Renwick of DHEC’s media relations office, and grew out of conversations with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and other groups.
Duwve said that 8,055 of those who reported Hispanic ethnicity had tested positive for COVID-19. Forty-nine who identified as Hispanic have died.
Bell noted that African Americans and Latinos are at a higher risk of getting the coronavirus, and that DHEC is expanding testing in rural areas and using other techniques to better reach Hispanics and Latinos.
Correct information is the key to controlling the virus, the experts said.
Bell encouraged people to be careful about where they get information and to be particularly wary of social media. She also reminded listeners that home remedies, expect for mask wearing, don’t work.
“Drinking alcohol, washing nose out with saline, do not work,” she said.
She urged people to stay away from barbecues, family reunions and other activities where they can’t guarantee that adequate precautions are taken to stop transmission.
At home, she said, the only reason someone should wear a mask or physically distance is if another member of the family is sick.
Bell also answered questions, some submitted beforehand and others that popped up in the chat box as she spoke. Although some of them dealt with the particulars of mask-wearing and hand-washing, many dealt with specific issues facing Hispanics and Latinos.
Several participants said community members were concerned their information would be shared with immigration officials if they got tested.
Bell said providing information to DHEC is voluntary, and that DHEC never asks for Social Security numbers or other forms of identification or about immigration status.
“Our primary responsibility, and our primary goal, is protection of the public health,” Bell said. “We do not work with law enforcement officials or immigration officials in our public health efforts. We have privacy policies in place.”
One participant asked about how DHEC is working to prevent the spread among migrant farm workers, many of whom travel together on buses hundreds of miles and spend hours working in the heat.
Bell said preventing the spread of the virus among these workers is a priority.
“We have worked to provide testing for migrant workers when possible, and we have developed education materials and used education materials from other states to help them understand what they can do to prevent transmission as much as possible,” she said.
Others expressed concerns about the trust gap that can exist between Hispanic and Latino communities and public officials.
Bell said the agency is working to engage more community workers familiar with Hispanics and Latinos and disseminate informational material into mass media that targets Hispanics and Latinos.
Dr. Gustavo Valdez, director of Hispanic ministry for the Charleston Diocese of the Catholic Church, said in an interview after the call that he and other members of the Hispanic community already knew the precautions to take to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“Mainly what we need to do is to make sure that people are following the recommendations,” he said. “They think that (something is) not true or that nothing is going to happen to them. I see people getting together.”
But with the number of Latinos infected at the top of his mind, Valdez said he hopes to see the state get tougher in implementing public health recommendations, including mandatory mask use.
“I talk to people … and they say ‘I have the right’” not to wear a mask, he said.
But masks are about more than individual rights, he said.
“It’s not just ‘me.’ It’s everybody,” Valdez said. “For the common good, it should be mandatory everywhere.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 12:43 PM.
