DISCRIMINATION & STIGMA

Discrimination, Stigma, and COVID-19

Polk County health officials, together with state and federal authorities, are closely monitoring the outbreak of COVID-19 and working locally to keep our community healthy. That starts with sharing facts and not spreading fear.

Some residents have experienced acts of racism and xenophobia, while some businesses have even reported fewer customers because of myths surrounding COVID-19.

A person's ethnicity, language, or association with a country or region is not a risk factor for the virus. Health officials have also emphasized that concern about COVID-19 is not a reason to deny care to a patient.

Fear and anxiety can lead to social stigma - discrimination against a group of people, a place, or a nation. Stigma can result from a lack of knowledge about how COVID-19 spreads. People might feel a need to blame or struggle to cope with fears about disease and death.

Stigma hurts everyone by creating more fear or anger - feelings misdirected towards people instead of toward the disease causing harm. Stigma can allow myth and rumor to gain traction.

People can fight stigma by offering social support. Counter stigma by learning and sharing facts. Communicating the facts that viruses do not target specific racial or ethnic groups and how COVID-19 actually spreads can help stop stigma. For more information, click here.

Report Discrimination

Any discrimination incident that may be motivated by another person's race, color, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity is considered a hate and bias incident. The act does not need to be a federal, state, or local crime.

Whether it happened to you or someone else, we urge you to report the incident either online or by calling 1-844-924-2427 so the Oregon Department of Justice can track the incident. For emergency assistance, dial 9-1-1.