Fear, language barriers prevent immigration contact tracking

Despite the large Hispanic population, Spanish is the only contact tracer who works to slow COVID-19 in 125 communities near Chicago. Churches and advocates in the Houston area are trying to convince immigrants to work when health authorities call for them. And in California, immigrants are trained as contact tracers to mitigate distrust.

The important task of approaching coronavirus-positive and contacted people has proved particularly difficult in immigrant communities due to language barriers, confusion, and fear of government.

Given the burgeoning and disproportionate number of cases among Latin Americans in many states, the national health sector is failing to properly investigate coronavirus outbreaks among non-English speaking people That is even more of a problem. The four most affected states (Florida, Texas, Arizona, California) have a large Spanish-speaking population.

In the postal code with the highest number of cases of COVID-19 in Maryland, 56% of adults speak Spanish. However, of the 1,350 contact tracers in Maryland, only 60 speak Spanish.

Language barriers extend beyond Spanish. Minneapolis requires a tracer that speaks Somali, Oromo, and Mon. Chicago requires a Polish speaker. Harris County in Houston is wrestling with a population that includes Vietnamese, Chinese and Hindi speakers.

But even if the health authorities cross language barriers, they will be among immigrants when someone with the government asks them to ask about their actions during the age of hard-line immigration law enforcement under President Donald Trump. We must dispel the deep doubts that have been caused.

Dr. Kiran Joshi, senior health officer at the Cook County Public Health Service serving 2.4 million people in the Chicago suburbs community, said:

The problem is exacerbated by delays in reaching COVID test results across the United States, which typically lasts over a week. The country is also averaging over 60,000 new cases per day, averaging many laboratories.

Everything that can significantly impact a tracer’s ability to reach 75% of a patient’s contact within 24 hours of a positive test is a threshold required by professionals to control the outbreak.

Authorities say it is particularly difficult to meet that standard in the immigrant community.

Contact tracers reassure patients that nothing will be passed to the Immigration Bureau, they will not have to provide social security or insurance information, and that contacts will not know who shared their name and phone number. I’m having a hard time making it happen.

Still, “there are lots of rumors and myths,” said Hebertrosio Benitez, who oversees Harris County Public Health contact tracking. “We strive to train our staff to build trust and be persuasive enough to tell us what our contact tracking process is, but that alone can do it. .”

Therefore, every week, the Department of Health meets with clergy, legislators, and advocates to get feedback on immigration concerns, answer questions, and say, “Community participation is needed to successfully control the virus. Rosio-Benitez said.

Fernando Garcia, the founder and executive director of El Paso, Texas, said that while many of the people who are approaching are essential workers who worry about being waited for test results for days or even weeks to be on the sidelines. , A border network for human rights based on saying that members of the community are afraid of reacting to contracts with viruses.

“I don’t want to tell people if I’m infected, because I believe there is a growing stigma that people are getting sick,” said Garcia, a group working with farmers. ..

The University of California, Irvine is trying to support the county by training people in low-income, ethnic minority areas to become contact tracers in their communities, saying that infectious disease epidemiology and public health Associate Professor Daniel Parker said.

The tracer is provided with a loose script to help with the call, but “the best way (about) to know the information and what to ask is already intuitive,” he said. “They have the same living experience and know how to better approach the community.”

In Maryland, state health officials have created public service announcements for both English and Spanish television stations, encouraging people to call when contact tracers call.

“The personal information we seek is completely protected,” Dr. Michel Larure assures the viewer in Spanish.

LaRue is the manager of the immigrant advocacy group, CASA de Maryland, which works with health authorities in Prince George’s County outside Washington. DC, to call Spanish speakers. She said earning trust begins with hiring contact tracers who not only speak Spanish but also have an intimate understanding of the immigrant community.

From Puerto Rico, Ruth Rivera is the perfect fit.

“I feel connected immediately,” said Rivera, a bilingual contact tracer for a company called HealthCare Dynamics International. “I know their fears.”

With a $3 million state grant, Cook County plans to expand its tracking program, including public communications, in the coming months, according to Joshi, Illinois.

The department works with local organizations to ensure that people in all communities can get calls from health authorities, clearly show who the caller ID is calling, and Those who are really important to us take the phone,” said Joshi.

According to Rossio Benitez, his tracer success rate is currently 40-50%, especially due to the lack of overall cooperation in the immigrant community. He said that while some patients are “very close at hand,” others may identify the person they contact, but may not provide a phone number.

Rosio-Benitez says that about one-third of the 300 contact tracers in Harris County speak Spanish, but the Hispanic population in the region is overly affected by COVID-19, so more is needed.

According to Joshi, fewer of the 25 tracers speak Spanish, but plan to hire more people, not just those who speak Polish, Arabic, or other languages.

“If the caller speaks their language, they are likely to answer honestly and feel comfortable,” he said.

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Webber was reported by Fenton, Michigan. Garcia Kano from Baltimore. Michelle R. Smith donated from Brady McCombs from Providence, Rhode Island, and Salt Lake City.