When Amin Omar saw the cases of COVID-19 rising in the Somali community where he lives on St. Paul’s east side, he felt that something needed to be done. Omar first turned to his staff at the Horn of Africa Community of USA, and they then reached out to officials at the state Health Department and Ramsey County.
The result was an extensive outreach and educational campaign leading to a community testing program taking place this month at Highwood Hills Elementary School. In two days of testing, Dec. 1 and Dec. 15, 168 people have come in, Omar said. There will be one final day of testing on Dec. 29.