In hard-hit Arizona, tens of thousands of COVID-19 test kits went unused during a testing blitz in heavily Latino areas of Phoenix. Community leaders say officials are failing to get the message out to a community that's distrustful of government.
A person is tested for the COVID-19 Coronavirus Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at Cesar Chavez City Park in Phoenix. The two-week testing event is aimed at bringing tests to Phoenix's Laveen neighborhood, home to many Latinos and Blacks who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. Latino leaders say governments need to do more to communicate effectively with Hispanic communities to ensure people know where to get tested and encourage them to participate.
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.
“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.
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.
“The state doesn’t really know how to do a lot of this,” León said. “If you don’t have credible community organizations working to help promote, you aren’t going to get far.” As the state prepared to close its South Mountain event, the nonprofit HeroZona was opening a free testing location miles away in the majority Latino and Black neighborhood of Laveen. Just two dozen cars lined up at Cesar Chavez Park for tests.“I was expecting much longer lines,” said the 68-year-old, who didn’t have symptoms but wanted peace of mind.
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