Javi Cabrera-Rosales, project director of the CURA Project, which provides pandemic assistance to Latino, Indigenous and low-income communities, said Sonoma County residents who “live on the margins” do not have the same access to resources that most other people have.

Sonoma County’s residents now are living with tougher restrictions aimed at stemming transmission than other parts of the Bay Area, where cases mostly appear to be tapering off or plateauing. Its Latino residents continue to be hardest hit by both illness and the economic ramifications of the pandemic.

Hoping to blunt the disproportionate impact of another winter surge of COVID-19, a coalition of local health advocates is distributing more than 100,000 rapid tests to disadvantaged Latino and low-income families in Sonoma County.

Public health officials and county leaders hope that a new outreach initiative may help break down some of the barriers preventing people from protecting themselves against exposure to the virus, such as fear of losing their job if they stay home sick.

La Plaza will deploy partner agencies, staff and volunteers to provide up-to-date information about COVID-19, guidance about mitigation strategies, isolation and quarantine best practices and connection to health care providers. The effort will focus on the farmworker, laborer, and domestic worker populations.