Health Department, Sheriff's Office Promote Understanding Amid Pandemic

The Orange County Health Department and Orange County Sheriff’s Office recently collaborated on a COVID-19 safety video after hearing several concerning incidents regarding community members’ interactions with others. The video was created as a means to help educate and reassure the public.

The idea for the video came about during a recent, weekly meeting of the Immigrant and Refugee Health Team where several alarming encounters, such as a person being sprayed with Lysol by a stranger at the grocery store, were brought to the attention of the group.

After hearing these “frightening” accounts, the Immigrant and Refugee Health Team at the Orange County Health Department proposed a new video project and a new collaboration with the sheriff’s office. This project was created to comfort community members who were fearful they might be victims of violence or xenophobia.

The body of this video provides instruction about social distancing, encourages people to stay home whenever possible, and reminds viewers not to discriminate against members of other racial groups.

Kristin Prelipp, Communications Manager and Public Information Officer for the Health Department said, “Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic is obviously a new experience for everyone, and it raises anxiety. Some people express that anxiety by blaming the people they feel are responsible.”

The health department worked with the Refugee Community Partnership and the Chicle Language Institute to have the English video script translated into seven additional languages including Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic and Swahili.

The English version of the video includes appearances by several employees of the sheriff’s office, Prelipp of the Health Department and Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood.

Blackwood closes the video by encouraging people to call 9-1-1 if they have a concern about their own or someone else’s safety.

The video and all it’s translations are available on both the Orange County Health Department’s YouTube channel and on the Orange County Sheriff’s Office YouTube channel.

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