Students and staff participate in COVID-19 virtual workshop

The Center for Latin Americans Arts, UT Health RGV and the School of Medicine hosted a virtual workshop to inform the campus community about the coronavirus outbreak.

The workshop was presented by UTRGV medical staff and students via Zoom Tuesday. Their objective was to have an educational discussion on COVID-19 and update the community with the latest information, answer questions and decrease the uncertainty around the virus.

“This event was to show how the Center for Latin American Arts, and also the medical school, is dedicated to serving our community,” said Katherine McAllen, director for the Center of Latin American Arts and an art history assistant professor. “To represent UTRGV, and also show what we are learning and researching and studying at UTRGV, can benefit our community.”

The presentation discussed different topics such as common signs of infection, risk factors that can cause severe illness, how to differentiate symptoms of the flu from COVID-19, testing sites and how to practice social distancing.

Andrea Soto, a first-year medical student at UTRGV, was a guest speaker during the workshop. Soto spoke about different resources offered to the community in case there is a shortage of food.

“We have the RGV food bank that is available here, we have Aunt Bertha, which is another website that has plenty of resources,” she said. “So you can see what’s around you and what’s available. We also decided to share information on the districts that are giving meals for their students.”

Soto said students who are currently enrolled in classes, either part time or full time, are eligible to receive UTRGV Food Pantry services once a week. They may receive a variety of non-perishable food commodities such as canned fruits and vegetables.

The virtual workshop also discussed the bioethics issues that COVID-19 represents. According to the webpage practicalbioethics.org, bioethics is the application of ethics to the field of medicine and healthcare.

“How do doctors and hospitals decide who gets potentially life-saving treatment and who does not?” asked Dr. Rabbi Claudio J. Kogan, director of the Institute of Bioethics and Social Justice at UTRGV. “Those are issues that … have been discussed today in … the bioethics community.”

The virtual workshop is available at the Center for Latin American Arts Facebook page.

For more information about future workshops, email claa@utrgv.edu.