MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis hospital has created an awareness campaign to help slow the spread of coronavirus in the Latino community.
COVID-19 cases are climbing, and one part of our population seeing the increase is the Hispanic and Latino community.
“When we noticed this increase, we decided that we had to do something,” said Dexter McKinney, program director of community development at Methodist North.
A graph from the Shelby County Health Department shows more than 27% of COVID cases where ethnicity is reported are within the Latino community.
Another chart shows 41% of cases in the community are children under the age of 18.
McKinney and his team are working to reduce numbers like these by developing an outreach program.
“To really provide an educational piece and also a resource piece as well,” McKinney said.
So far, they’ve passed out more than 400 kits to communities around Methodist North. They include bilingual awareness material about the coronavirus, hand sanitizer and a mask.
“Language is one of the top barriers but also trust, and that’s why we were very strategic for the marketing for this campaign, and that’s why everything is bilingual,” McKinney said.
Our conversation with McKinney comes the same day the City of Memphis and the health department announced a partnership with La Prensa Latina, a Latin news site with a new campaign, “Mascarillas Arriba Memphis,” or “Mask up Memphis.”
“Mascarillas Arriba Memphis will speak to our youth and its parents in a series of informative messages, as well as comics in La Prensa Latina’s weekly and social media,” said Jair Arguijo with La Prensa Latina. “We want to make sure we address the importance of adhering to safety measures and help battle COVID-19.”
McKinney said within the Methodist Hospital system, the Hispanic population represents 8% of COVID-19 cases across healthcare system. That’s up 5% from a few months ago, and these are only the numbers of people who have been tested.
You can visit the campaign’s website to learn more information.