Combating COVID-19: Our Affiliates spread the word. Wear a mask!

The use of masks has become part of our daily lives. It is now mandatory to wear them when shopping for groceries, entering a restaurant, or visiting a store. It is part of our new normal as emerging evidence from clinical and laboratory studies shows their effectiveness. Today, we want to commend our Affiliates who are spreading the word about the importance of wearing masks, as well as educating their communities how to properly use them.

By Beatriz Paniego-Béjar, Content Specialist, UnidosUS

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends we use masks to cover our nose and mouth when we are in public settings and around people who don’t live with us, especially when physical distance is difficult to maintain. In that way we reduce the spread of respiratory droplets that could carry the virus that causes COVID-19.

Below are some of the materials our Affiliates have been producing to let our community know how critical it is to wear a mask during the pandemic.

Máscara or cubrebocas

In Texas, one of the hot spots for the virus this summer, our Affiliates are informing how a mask, mascarilla or cubrebocas in Spanish, can help stop the spread of the virus.

Con Mi MADRE, a community-based organization empowering young Latinas and their mothers through education and support services, has been promoting the use of masks on their social media channels. An example is this video from their Executive Director, Dr. Johanna Moya Fábregas, pleading their community to use masks: “One thing that this pandemic has taught us is that we all depend on each other: we are all connected and, if I protect myself, I protect others in my community,” Dr. Moya Fábregas says.

https://www.facebook.com/ConMiMADRE/posts/3077343285635657

 

The Concilio, which focuses on helping parents improve the education and health of their families, shared this flyer at the end of August to show parents how they could teach their children to get used to wearing a mask, making it easier for the little ones in the family when they went back to school:

https://www.facebook.com/theconcilio/posts/3026926617433976

 

Also Su Clínica Familiar, whose vision is to accelerate the transformation of health care, wanted to reach out to our Spanish-speaking population to show them that even if we don’t feel sick, we can still be carrying the virus:

https://www.facebook.com/SuClinicaHarlingen/posts/3119392721449699

 

No bajemos la guardia

The state of Florida has also seen a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases this summer, and our Affiliates MAC—working with the children of farmworkers and helping them access quality education and the arts and technology—and Amigos for Kids—working to prevent child abuse—have partnered with elected officials to distribute masks to the people they serve:

https://www.facebook.com/mexamcouncil/photos/a.1525803460998131/2807424179502713/

https://www.facebook.com/amigosforkids/posts/10157282223176135

 

In the sunshine state as well, ConnectFamilias, helping children achieve their full potential, and Enterprising Latinas, enabling women to pursue their personal and economic goals, are doing their part. These Affiliates are sharing messages in Spanish explaining what physical distance is and why we should stay home, and advising the community to make sure that they don’t let their guard down (bajar la guardia) since the number of cases continue to be high in their communities:

https://www.facebook.com/ConnectFamiliasMiami/posts/3191368574283168

https://www.facebook.com/EnterprisingLatinasInc/posts/3902758139738824

 

Quédate en casa

Another epicenter of this summer’s coronavirus outbreak was Arizona, where UnidosUS Affiliates are encouraging our communities to stay home (quedarse en casa). Using a very popular Spanish saying, Chicanos Por La Causa, an advocate for underserved individuals and communities that helps individuals and families achieve self-sufficiency, tells their followers that: “Better safe than sorry.”

https://www.facebook.com/1cplc/posts/10158491393690210

 

Affiliates Promise Arizona, who connects individuals who share similar goals so that they may work toward a better Arizona by investing in statewide infrastructure and training a new generation of leaders, Valle del Sol, that invests in health and human services to strengthen families with tools and skills for self-sufficiency, are both promoting testing opportunities in their regions.

https://www.facebook.com/PromiseArizona/photos/a.114197798633577/3064910890228905/

https://www.facebook.com/ValledelSolAZ/posts/10159189760828606

 

The push that Campesinos Sin Fronteras is doing evolves around providing information about COVID-19, masks and hand sanitizer, aligned with their mission of working with migrants and the agriculture community to prevent chronic disease, injury, and illness associated to farm work.

https://www.facebook.com/CampesinosSinFronteras/posts/10158553894642357

The COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, and we all have a role to play to stop the spread: wearing a mask when in public is one of the first steps. Learn more about the coronavirus at the UnidosUS resource page here. You can also find this information in Spanish here. And remember: #WearAMask!