Driver Daniel Pizarro, Junta's volunteer Art Director, and Bruni Pizarro, Junta's executive director, delivering Covid tests.
Taina Cintron began to come down with a sore throat, stuffy nose, and cough. Cintron, a 20-year-old college student, was unsure about what to do with her grandmother coming home the next day from the holidays. Results from the PCR test she took would not come back for “another eight days”; her boss wanted a test result before returning to work.
Taina Cintron with her father.
As this uncertainty weighed on Cintron’s shoulders, a caseworker from Junta for Progressive Action called her with news about a new effort to distribute at-home rapid tests. She became of an estimated 150 people thus far to receive a combination of a Covid-19 test and masks under the effort. The Department of Health gave Junta a couple of hundred tests and 960 masks to distribute.
For the past week, three to four Junta staff members and four volunteers have been driving through Fair Haven to distribute the at-home test. The agency is prioritizing “intergenerational households, those who are undocumented, low-income, those who are experiencing symptoms or are exposed,” said Executive Director Bruni Pizarro. (Click here to read about another grassroots campaign to distribute tests to Fair Haveners.)
Three hours after the first call from the caseworker, Junta arrived with Covid tests to help prevent Cintron’s family members from giving the grandmother Covid. After Cintron’s boyfriend began feeling symptoms, she was able to call Junta and get her boyfriend a test as well.
Daniel Pizarro
Junta distribution.
Junta Director of Social Services Cheila Serrano described the need as urgent. “Everyone is going crazy, trying to get an appointment for Covid tests,” she said. With a test shortage and delayed PCR results, “we’re able to give people peace of mind through providing tests.”
Daniel Pizarro video.
Junta not only works to provide households in Fair Haven with tests but also informs clients on when to get tested and what resources are available for those who test positive. Serrano informs callers about the importance of waiting to get tested until three to five days after exposure, and quarantining according to CDC guidelines. According to the city Health Director Martiza Bond, Hispanics make up 30 percent of total Covid cases in New Haven, making Junta’s work essential given the agency’s mission of serving the Hispanic community.
For many callers, especially undocumented or low-income individuals, contracting Covid means overcoming physical and financial obstacles. Junta’s caseworkers follow up with those who test positive to discuss their next steps, especially if their inability to work causes a financial burden.
Cintron discussed her frustrations bout the recent Covid resurgence and what feels like an absence of reactions from government and university officials: “I haven’t heard of that many resources like there was at the beginning of Covid; I know people living day by day.”