Looking Out For Each Other

Weekend Wrap Message – Saturday, July 3 From David Brinkman, Desert AIDS Project CEO

Will your weekend plans expose you to COVID-19?

Our COVID-19 Triage Clinic has now provided care to more than 2,000 people seeking testing and medical support for their symptoms.

The team has noticed people testing positive are younger on average than when this crisis began. It’s a national trend, and we must keep reminding each other about our mutual obligation to take this health threat very seriously.

As he addressed his co-workers, our Director of Community Health, C.J. Tobe, shared his painful news that within a 24-hour period, he lost several friends under 40 to COVID-19 this week.

He urged his colleagues to consider: “Will my weekend plans expose me to COVID-19?”

One-in-two COVID-19 patients have no idea who exposed them or when they contracted the virus in the two weeks leading up to symptoms. According to our team, this illustrates the danger from asymptomatic transmission and community spread.  We can guard against this with strong adherence to wearing face coverings, social distancing, and extra hand washing. For CDC guidance click here.

Currently, Riverside County is second in California for new COVID-19 cases. As we celebrate our nation’s independence on this long weekend, we beg you to ask yourself, “Will my weekend plans expose me to COVID-19?” If the answer is “yes,” please consider changing them to protect yourself and others.

We all have to be aware of new health restrictions in California this week; bars and restaurants must halt indoor service to customers. This also applies to sectors including wineries, movie theaters, zoos, museums and card rooms. These orders are expected to be in effect for at least three weeks. Read more here.

If you or anyone you know needs information on COVID-19 testing, please call us (760) 992-0407 to talk to an expert.

Study Examines How PLWHA Are Coping In New Normal

HARP-PS and the University of Southern California are conducting a study to find out how people living with HIV over 50 in our community are getting through this current health crisis. Many of our patients lived through the worst years of the AIDS crisis, and they report experiencing post-traumatic stress, as well as very real barriers accessing care and life sustaining services currently. Data collected will be used by healthcare providers to make care and access better for our HIV positive in the Coachella Valley.

Call (760) 408-6267 for more information.

Invest in PLWHA to Prevent New HIV Transmissions

We’ve shared the second in a series of four Q&A posts capturing Prevention Access Campaign founder Bruce Richman’s perspectives on our movement to end HIV stigma with U=U.

In this post Bruce talks about how keeping PLWHA in healthcare and connected to services yields a much broader benefit to the greater public health, and how stigma still gets in the way of people getting tested. Read more here.

Preventionaccess.org has a lot of information, including social shares that allies can use. It has tips about the language that we should all be educating ourselves about. 

Thanking Direct Relief for Covid-19 Relief Funding

We want to thank Direct Relief, in partnership with the National Association of Community Health Centers, for their grant funding of $50,000 to help sustain our COVID-19 Triage Clinic. This support helps us provide consultation, COVID-19 testing, and respiratory treatments to people in our community. By providing this service, DAP is taking pressure off of our overwhelmed emergency rooms and ICUs as the surge continues. Read more here.

Get Access To the Care You Need

One Call is a service that can enroll callers in health insurance or Medi-Cal through Covered California, register them for medical and behavioral healthcare, and schedule their first appointment at DAP — all in approximately 45 minutes. This is a significant reduction in the amount of time this would normally take, thanks to a DAP Healthcare Navigator who will work one-on-one with each caller.

Callers can access One Call service by calling 760-992-0426, Monday – Friday, 9am – 4pm PDT.

Sexual Health Clinic - Palm Springs

1695 N. Sunrise Way Palm Springs, CA 92262

Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 4:30 AM (Closed for lunch from noon-1:00 PM)

Call 760-992-0492 to schedule an appointment.

To reach our after-hours answering service, please call (760) 323-2118.