05.13.20 COVID-19 Briefing Live Stream Transcript

The County of Santa Clara
May 13, 2020
Live Stream - Live with the County of Santa Clara
10am PT

Larry Little: Hi everybody and thank you for joining us. I'm Larry Little, Public Information Officer here at the Emergency Operations Center.

Betty Duong: Hi everyone my name is Betty Duong. I am the Deputy Public Information Officer here at the Emergency Operations Center.

LL: And Betty, today we really just spend some time talking about information and resources that have been made available to the community as we navigate through COVID-19. And I think the perfect place to start is talking about why we remove our facial coverings.

BD: Yes, absolutely. So, we removed our facial coverings prior to filming the segment to allow our American Sign Language interpreters the ability to read and see what we're saying to properly interpret for this segment.

LL: And that's one of the resources we have provided here at the county is providing ASL services when we decided to do Facebook live because our deaf community is very important to us and we wanted to include everyone in on this conversation and information as COVID-19 continues to evolve in the community. So, we're very thankful to have our ASL staff here. I'll tell a very quick story in speaking with Kelly, one of our ASL interpreters, she said something that stuck with me. She said for a lot of people who are deaf, sign language is their first language so I'm so thankful that we are making sign language available here on some of our programming.

BD: Absolutely.

LL: And you have the numbers from our data dashboard.

BD: I do. So, ladies and gentlemen as of today we have 21 new cases bringing the case total in Santa Clara County to 2381. We have 2 new deaths bringing our total to 132 losses. Our condolences and well wishes are with the loved ones and family of those we have lost.

LL: Absolutely and Betty the data dashboard is a wonderful resource we have available here at the county where you can stay in the know on COVID-19 as it relates to Santa Clara County. The information is right at your fingertips. There was a comment last week, yes, I do go and read the comment, where someone said I want to see Dr. Cody out here giving the numbers and the updates. Well now you don't have to wait on Dr. Cody. You have the access to the data dashboard at your fingertips and that information is updated daily.

BD: Mm-hmm We have a team of epidemiologists, operations and logistics staff persons, and data scientists making sure that these dashboards are updated daily.

LL: And also, another resource we have testing centers. Testing centers, two of them, are now open in Santa Clara County. One testing site is at James lick High School in East San Jose and one is a Christopher High School in Gilroy. Testing centers are by appointment only. You can schedule appointment by visiting sccgov.org/coronavirus and you're gonna hear us say that a lot of times today because you can find all of the information that you need at sccgov.org/coronavirus. The screening and testing criteria are based on the State guidelines and may be updated to reflect the latest information. These new sites are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and each site has a capacity to serve up to 132 people daily. That's exciting!

BD: Mm-hmm LL: Also, did you know we have, you know, COVID-19 has changed everything as we know it. So, it has created a lot of questions for the community. So, we have an on-site call center where people can actually call in to 2-1-1 and ask questions.

BD: You can ask your questions. Our call center staff are on standby ready to answer your questions relating to resources, the latest updates involved with the current shelter-in-place order also with any questions you have around clarity. Clarification of certain portions of the order. Our call center staff who is able, they are able to respond to calls and questions and up to 40 languages. So, we really hope people take advantage of this resource and we really have the best team who care deeply about being able to our public, our residents with vital information.

LL: Absolutely. And not only do we have 2-1-1 available as a resource, we have a FAQ team here answering all your questions. I spoke with them this morning, so far, they have answered 5,200 questions

BD: Mm-hmm.

LL: from community members. So, that's great and if you have a question about something you can probably find it on our website sccgov.org/coronavirus and use the Quick Links to ask a question or find an answer to a question that has already been asked by community member.

BD: Absolutely so the FAQ team we actually have a team of live people who are Public Health Specialists and also Department of Environmental Health inspectors who are staffing this FAQ. The 7 the FAQ team and what they do is that they go over every single question. They're very thoughtful about their answers. For questions that we don't have a readily available answer to, what they do is that they then consult with the Public Health Department with the branches to make sure that we arrive at the right answer for those who are sending in the questions. Now if you go to our website you do have the option of choosing one of five languages to receive information. These are complete reconstruction in different languages of our public health website which means you can submit your question through the FAQ interface, online interface, in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog.

LL: Wow. Amazing.

BD: Thank you.

LL: And we realized that everyone is not on social media. You don't have a Facebook, you don't have Instagram, you don't have Twitter. So, we have a newsletter here at Public Health and you can go to sccgov.org I told you I was gonna be saying that a lot of times backslash coronavirus and sign up for that newsletter. That way you can stay up to COVID, you can get the latest on COVID-19 information right in your inbox.

BD: Right in your inbox. And these newsletters are also being sent out in Vietnamese and Spanish. We're working on are expanding our language capacity. The great thing about these newsletters is that we have a language access team, a very large team of people who care deeply about language accessibility, who have lived experience themselves. For example, I remember my first experiences with the county and in elementary school coming here to translate for my mother and father. So, this is something that's very deeply personal to me. So, I'm very proud to be a part of the efforts now to expand our language accessibility. So, with these newsletters, these newsletters can be issued in multiple languages. Go to the website. You can also submit an email to [email protected] in your language of choice and let them know you want to be on the distribution list for Spanish or Vietnamese.

LL: And Betty so I was driving down Monterrey the other day and let me tell you it was an essential trip. And I looked up and I saw a billboard with very familiar faces.

BD: Oh yes, so are we are during this time of unprecedented need in crisis, we are asking a lot of our County staff persons they are doing double, triple, quadruple duty sometimes in areas that they never expected to do. So, some of you, some of the folks up there may have seen some Public Health, County of Santa Clara billboards recognizing that there is a digital divide, a very significant one, in certain communities, in certain areas amongst certain populations, within our county we are trying to employ every single communication channel that is available out there including billboards which goes back to the basics. So, these billboards, the models on the billboards, are actually our own county employees so we've gotten a lot of great feedback about seeing familiar faces. We really want to put that out there that the diversity of this county is one of our great strengths and it's here at the organization too. We have people who are culturally competent, who practice language accessibility in their daily lives both personal and professional and they are now, who better than they to be the ambassadors of our messaging and in our communities.

LL: So, lots of great information on resources and information that we have available as we navigate through COVID-19. And if you didn't hear anything we said today, you can go to sccgov.org/coronavirus and use the search tool and find anything you need, information on anything that you need. It's right there.

BD: Yes, it's a very expansive website with multiple pages and multiple links so you know in addition to that and in addition to updating and being very comprehensive and our information on our website we're also trying you know we also put a lot of effort based on your feedback so I want to really think the public your comments your feedback your emails and how we're doing has really affected how we communicate these changes and the messaging around this crisis. So, your, you know, it's an it informs how we could better communicate yeah.

LL: And one more thing, I talked about people not having social media before so, those of you who are watching please share this information with community members who are not on social media or maybe they don't have access to the Internet. We depend on community-based organizations, religious organizations, and community leaders to actually get information out and share it and let them know that the County is here to help.

BD: Help us amplify our message. So, I know, you know, in this really extremely diverse County of ours, being one of the most diverse in the country, right, whether you speak another language or not, I know that you have neighbors you have friends loved ones, co-workers, colleagues, who may fall into the categories of limited English proficiency. Please let them know. Please bring it to their attention. Help us amplify that message that we have made significant, deep investments in to language accessibility making sure that everybody is able to receive our message in a way that's culturally competent and relevant to them and you know we're gonna continue trying applying our best efforts informed by your feedback. Thank you.

LL: And Betty I want to tell the public thank you so much for sheltering in place. I know it's not easy and I'm not even gonna go down that road because if I could talk about all the ways it's affected me I would be balled up like a baby crying on the floor. So, we're gonna end on a lighter note as we get ready to leave today. So, what's the least important thing that you want to do when all of this is over or the regulations are relax a little bit, the least important?

BD: The least important thing, uuhhh you know it's one thing that this COVID crisis has made very clear to me is that there I guess there's no such thing as least important things anymore. All the little treats and all the little things that used to do in the past be prior to COVID mean so much and are so critical to all of our well-being now. So, I just cannot wait to see my family and friends again, practicing proper, you know, proper practice, hygiene practices to make sure we protect our health and health in others but I just want to see my friends again.

LL: Me too but I also want to go to TJ Maxx.

BD: Oh, my goodness! Yes, let me come with you.

LL: Absolutely. Alright that's going to do it for today. Thank you for watching everybody. Stay safe and thank you for so much for sheltering in place and we will see you next time.

BD: Thank you.