Free COVID-19 Pop-Up Testing Sites In Wyandotte County Likely To Benefit Latinos And African-Americans

The Wyandotte County Health Department has decided to offer free COVID-19 pop-up sites starting next week. The department already offers free, drive-up testing between 1 and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Nearly 28 percent of Wyandotte County’s population is Latino. However, of all the cases reported so far, only 15 percent of them are Latinos. This has led several health advocates and officials fear that the rate of infections could be much higher in the Latino and Hispanic community.

“If we add that to the lack of health insurance, the lack of a primary care provider, to the fears related to immigration and underlying chronic conditions, that’s the perfect soup for a virus to spread,” said Mariana Ramirez, the director for JUNTOS Center for Advancing Latino Health.

The low rate of reported infection among Latinos is not because they do not fall sick but because they are not getting themselves tested as they should. The availability of free pop-up testing for coronavirus is expected to increase the frequency at which Latinos get themselves tested by improving accessibility to testing.

A majority of the Latino population in Wyandotte County is working in essential businesses, which makes them more prone to catching coronavirus infection or spreading it. This makes it all the more important for COVID-19 testing to be accessible to them.

People who show symptoms of COVID-19 will be tested. They have to register at the Unified Government’s COVID-19 website to be able to undergo testing.

Nearly 40 percent of the Latinos in Wyandotte County are uninsured. This is one reason why they may not be coming out to report symptoms and get tested. Immigration concerns and lack of trust also contribute to the fear of testing.

"Unfortunately this is an issue we've had all along," said El Centro Community Mobilizer Valeria Espadas Ibarra. "Coronavirus, I think, just kind of showed it."

The Wyandotte County Health Department is currently working with the local communities and faith to spread awareness about coronavirus testing and its importance.