The South Central Public Health District is working to make sure everyone in their district has the latest information on the coronavirus, no matter what language they speak.
The district says a big chunk of the people they serve don't speak English, so they're working to provide COVID-19 information in as many different languages as possible.
"Across our district, we have a sizeable Spanish-speaking population, and plenty of those people only speak Spanish, they don't speak any amount of English," said Brianna Bodily, the district's Public Information Officer. 'We have most basic information printed in at least 7 languages, and just about everything we release is at least dual lingual."
The district is partnering with community leaders to provide as much information as they can, to as many people as they can.
"We do have several graphics that have been created and then distributed to those community leaders, specifically refugee community resources, and they have been sending them out from there," Bodily said.
The district says while they don't have the resources to translate everything, they'll do their best to fill the needs of the community.
"I want to reach every single person in our community. That is a high priority for our district," Bodily said. "If there's somebody who has somehow been missed, who has a need that has not been getting filled I urge hem to reach out to me."
About a month ago, the district started two COVID-19 informational hotlines. One of the hotlines is in English, and the other is in Spanish:
English informational hotline: (208) 737-1138
Línea directa de información de COVID-19 en Español: (208) 737-5965
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare also has a 24/7 hotline for anyone feeling overwhelmed, isolated or distressed because of the coronavirus. That hotline number is 888-330-3010.
