Tulsa City, County Leaders Utilize Translators During State's Coronavirus Outbreak

Tulsa city and county leaders are providing regular updates about their response and translators are working to make sure non-English speakers hear the messages too.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there's no shortage of rumors and false information, so for non-English speaking communities, translators provide a vital connection with the city's announcements and updates.

"Pandemics, viruses, they don't know borders, they don't discriminate, they affect everyone the same," said translator Lehabim Escoto-Flores.

He's a city employee who helps translate every news conference into Spanish, something he started doing last year during May's historic flooding. He said relaying updates from city leaders keeps non-English speakers from relying on social media for answers.

"Normally people follow information from Facebook or friends or other people and these are not safe, there is no way to know what is true and what is not true," said Escoto-Flores.

The City said there are an estimated 60,000 residents in Tulsa who only speak Spanish, but that's not the only large community in Tulsa who doesn't speak English.

Tawi is a Burmese translator, helping get the same important information to a community that relies on her to provide accurate updates on COVID-19. Another translator does the same for the Zomi speaking community. Together, the two groups make up 10,000 people in Tulsa.

"We are in the same boat. Tulsa is really diverse and if everybody is safe, it's going to be better for everyone," said Escoto-Flores.

The City of Tulsa said the translation videos have been viewed on Facebook more the 700,000 times, showing that they're an important resource for many people.