Pacific

Utah Pacific Islanders called on to do more to combat Covid-19

07:15 am on 20 July 2020

A health coalition in the US state of Utah says more needs to be done to help the Pacific community cope with the impact of Covid-19.

Salt Lake City, Utah Photo: Flickr- CountyLemonade- . (cc-by-2.0.)

There are about 30,000 Pacific islanders in Utah, and there has so far been about 1,200 cases and 13 deaths from the coronavirus among them.

Jake Fitisemanu, of the Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition, said his organisation had been working hard to get the community to make use of available resources.

He said it had been working with the media, churches, and Pasifika officials in the governor's office.

"We have a press conference with the governor, specifically for the Pacific Covid-19 response coming up next Wednesday, so I definitely feel there is a robust infrastructure here. The issue or the difficulty is folks to actually take advantage of those resources," he said.