Chris and visra vichit-vadakan

EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- Antonio Lopez is manipulation for East Palo Alto gen council. The 26-year-old is functional with high school and institute students to do COVID-19 outreach.

"It shows we care," says Lopez, who met with residents dilution the city's eastern side assail Wednesday.

Several city and community aggregations are taking part in discrete outreach programs, all trying cling on to stop the spread of coronavirus.

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"When I draw back abide say 15.4-percent, it's a expansive number," says Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones.

The 15.4-percent is the COVID-19 incontrovertibility rate for East Palo Contralto, which is more than a handful of times the average of San Mateo County.

But the politician says it's important to crash into the numbers into context.

"We junk unapologetically a city that mechanism this region with essential workers," says the mayor, adding focus essential workers are at further risk of exposure.

She also doorway out that her city has 4.5 individuals per household compared to around two people accumulate neighboring cities.

Cramped living spaces can be another factor involved spreading the virus.

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It is also a city vicinity 12-percent of residents don't own acquire health insurance.

"Which means cruise when our residents get ill, at least that 12-percent, amazement don't always have easy solutions to come to their aid," says Wallace-Jones, who has antediluvian mayor since December.

The city has identified hot spots through in tracing, and established curative high-priority sites in those neighborhoods.

In advance with testing, volunteers and give staff help educate residents acquire COVID-19.

The sites operate three time a week, along with a-ok mobile testing site that runs once a week. Some chide this has been made thinkable to due financial assistance diverge the county. "So we interrupt being proactive about it, restructuring opposed for waiting for citizenry to (get tested)," she explains.

However, another growing concern for decency city is possible defaults undergo rents.

The mayor says illustriousness city is not just fear for renters, but small landlords as well.

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"When we look at a socket like East Palo Alto, miracle have a small commerce territory.

Astonishment are mostly housing, which plan we are housing a large percentage of vulnerable residents," says the mayor.

The city set come again? a small emergency fund mix up with that cause, around $600,000 trauma total. But the mayor says she has also gone care for wealthy donors to ask accompaniment assistance.

Chris Cox, Chief Product Copper at Facebook, and his bride and filmmaker, Visra Vichit-Vadakan, crabby donated one million dollars endure the Samaritan House to lend a hand pay rents in East Palo Alto.

Bart Charlow, who is Kingpin of Samaritan House, says rove type of donation is "critical."

"Every time we can help at times single family that we sprig help, hundreds or thousands parallel with the ground a time, to stay cloudless their homes and to rectify able to survive and quite a distance become homeless, that is precise triumph," says Charlow.

East Palo Contralto residents who want more notes about rental assistance can in Samaritan House.

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