Advocates say Filipinos in San Diego area being left out of anti-Covid efforts

Filipinos also are nearly 20% of hospital and nursing home workers and are more at risk of contracting the virus and live in areas that have the higher incidents of COVID-19, says Fields. SCREENSHOT CBS8

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, California – Filipino community advocates told news media that their community is  being left out of targeted resources that help fight Covid-19 in San Diego County.

The lack of resources is heightening anxiety and decimating the Filipino community, according to Filipino Resource Center Director JoAnn Fields.

“In just my network of friends in the month of January, four prominent leaders have passed away due to Covid-19. Within my family, we have Covid-19 positives. My cousins are afraid to be around their moms. They’re nurses and they’re exposed to Covid-19, so they’re scared.”

Filipino Resource Center Director JoAnn Fields. SCREENSHOT CBS8

Filipinos are the second largest ethnic group in San Diego County and make up nearly half of all Asian Pacific Islanders in it, but they haven’t received the anti-pandemic outreach that some other groups have, according to the Resource Center.

Filipinos also are nearly 20% of hospital and nursing home workers and are more at risk of contracting the virus and live in areas that have the higher incidents of COVID-19, says Fields.

“Therefore, we would like outreach to be in language from trusted voices in our community so they can receive the information: where to get vaccinated, where to get treated, where to get tested.”

She says the Resource Center has created a Filipino Covid-19 task force and would like to collaborate with the San Diego Public Health Department to make testing and vaccination sites more accessible in the Filipino community.

Fields also says the county needs to disaggregate data on Filipinos to indicate how much the pandemic is affecting them. Filipinos also have a high number of cases of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and other comorbidities that worsen the impact of the coronavirus.

For more information about COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, go here:  San Diego County Coronavirus Information