Tune in on April 15 (Wednesday) 3pm ET for free and expert medical and legal advice on how Filipinos can cope with the COVID-19 crisis
New York City — Thousands of Filipinos are in the “frontlines” of America’s fight against COVID-19. While the exact number of Filipino healthcare professionals in America is unknown, a good indicator is the presence of many Filipino nurses hired in hospitals across the United States. In California alone, “20% of all the registered nurses in California are Filipinos, a considerably large percentage since Filipinos number only 2.3 million (officially 1.2 million) out of a state population of 38 million,” states a 2013 article by Atty. Rodel Rodis (FilAm community leader and legal counsel of the Philippine Nurses Association of Northern California).
Because of the unique position of Filipino Americans during this pandemic, a group of FilAm community leaders are coming together to host a “virtual conference” on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 3:00pm ET / 12:00nn PT, to discuss what is happening on the ground, and in the “battlefield” against the COVID-19 outbreak in the US.
“Filipino doctors, nurses, and medical technicians are Frontliners in this pandemic. As Fil-Ams, we should talk about it amongst ourselves,” said Atty. Loida Lewis (representing Filipino Americans for Biden – New York). Atty. Lewis will be the Emcee during the online conference.
Resource speakers include multi-awarded Dr. Francisco S. Sy, MD, DrPH, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Public Health. An infectious diseases epidemiologist, in 2003 Dr. Sy was tasked to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) SARS Community Outreach Team in Asian communities in the US, to mitigate the fear and stigma associated with SARS.
Gem Scorpio, BSN-RN, MT will be sharing his perspective as a nurse in New York (which has one of the highest number of persons infected with the novel coronavirus), along with some tips on how his fellow nurses can protect themselves and their families from this contagion.
Rep. Bobby Scott, US congressman from the 3rd District of Virginia, will be there to discuss the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, including the recently-passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Emil Guillermo, a journalist and representative of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), will talk about the rising hate violence against Asian Americans during COVID-19, and what we can do to stop it. A Q&A Session will follow, to be moderated by Amit S. Jani, National Director of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) for Biden.
Register for FREE at bit.ly/covidaffectsusfilipinos today. For questions and other inquiries, you can email Amit Jani at ajani@joebiden.com. (Photo and press release from FilAms for Biden)
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