London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 02, 2026

Some Of Trump’s Coronavirus Guidance Is English-Only. Members Of Congress Are Working To Translate It.

Some Of Trump’s Coronavirus Guidance Is English-Only. Members Of Congress Are Working To Translate It.

“It is not only cruel but irresponsible for this Administration to not make critical public health information accessible to everyone - in a language they can understand and trust."
The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today.

The Trump administration released a Spanish language version of its guidance on the coronavirus after the publication of this story.

Members of Congress are outraged that President Donald Trump released White House guidelines to address the coronavirus in just one language during the global pandemic. Now some are taking translations into their own hands to help spread information on how to respond to the pandemic to non-English speakers.

The English-only two-page document titled “The President’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America” is a quick how-to guide of what to do if you feel symptoms or have tested positive for the disease. The document ultimately directs people to their state and local authorities. But the White House, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have only published an English version of the guidelines. (The CDC does have some information on its website in other languages.)

After the publication of this story, the Trump administration released a Spanish language version of the guidelines.

BOLD PAC, the political arm for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, created its own translation of the guidelines for Spanish speakers and posted it on Twitter on Tuesday. A spokesperson for the PAC, Jazmin Vargas, said she relied on BOLD PAC’s bilingual staff and double-checked translation with Spanish-language media for the final product.

But, Vargas said, “the President has the biggest platform in the country.”

“It is not only cruel but irresponsible for this Administration to not make critical public health information accessible to everyone — in a language they can understand and trust,” Rep. Tony Cárdenas, who chairs BOLD PAC, told BuzzFeed News in a statement Wednesday. "We are a diverse nation with more than 40 million Americans who speak Spanish at home and over 20 percent of Americans who speak another language. It's a failure of leadership on behalf of the White House to ignore this reality.”

More than 25 million US residents self-reported having limited English proficiency, according to census data compiled by Migration Policy, a nonprofit focused on immigration policy.

A spokesperson for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the lawmaker concurs with BOLD PAC in that “there has been a dangerous lack of communication to Spanish-speaking communities from White House.”

Asked by BuzzFeed News if it had plans to offer coronavirus information in other languages earlier Wednesday, the White House said it would do so “as soon as possible” but did not specify when. The Spanish language guidelines were posted hours later.

Members of Congress who also represent Asian American communities were also dismayed by the administration’s handling of information to non-English speakers.

“It is crucial that we are getting the message out however we can, and the White House and Trump administration definitely has the capability to put out these translations,” Rep. Grace Meng, who chairs ASPIRE PAC, the political arm for Asian American members of Congress, told BuzzFeed News. She credited grassroots organizations and “in-language” media for helping with translations to the large Asian community that she represents in New York City.

Meng said the coronavirus has received lots of attention from ethnic media largely because of the president’s anti-Chinese rhetoric when speaking about the pandemic. In a press conference Wednesday, Trump referred to the coronavirus as the “China virus” and denied that the term was racist when pushed by reporters.

“What happens when you don’t have translations, is that, what we’re seeing, for example, in the Chinese community, in the Bangladeshi community we have many people who are not able to read or watch mainstream media outlets and they are getting false information from God knows where,” Meng said. “But it is in-language and so they are believing it.”

Meng said she’s heard rumors in her community along the lines of, “Oh, someone at a certain supermarket has the virus. Stay away!”

Rep. Ted Lieu of California echoed Meng’s sentiment in a statement to BuzzFeed News.

“There’s lots we don’t know about COVID-19 [the disease caused by the novel coronavirus], but what we do know is that coronavirus can make nearly anyone sick -that includes Americans and US residents who speak languages other than English,” Lieu said. “Social distancing and measures to reduce its spread require buy-in from everyone, regardless of whether they speak English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic or something else. We are all safer when all Americans act together to prevent the spread of coronavirus. For that to work, everyone needs access to critical information.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Finland Deploys Commercial-Scale Thermal Batteries Using Crushed Rock to Store Renewable Grid Energy
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
Sainsbury Agrees to Sell Argos in £120 Million Deal to Private Consortium
High Court Clears Way for Construction of Chinese Embassy at Royal Mint Court
UK Fuel Prices Climb to Multi-Month Highs as Strait of Hormuz Tensions Disrupt Oil Supplies
Severe Summer Drought and Record Heat Put UK Harvests at Risk
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Faces Labour Backbench Opposition Over Potential Support for New North Sea Oil and Gas Drilling
Bank of England Warns Inflation Will Stay Above 3% as Middle East Energy Shock Prolongs Cost-of-Living Pressures
Andy Burnham has Announces Plans to Redistribute Income Tax Revenue to English Mayors
Early-Release Scheme Faces Fresh Scrutiny as Reoffending and Prison Recalls Rise
Police Phone Checks Followed Report on Murder of MI5 Agent Inside Sinn Féin
Archbishop of Canterbury Reaffirms £100 Million Reparative Justice Fund During Ghana Visit
Charities Allege French Police Used Tear Gas Against Channel Migrants
Norwegian Teenager Convicted Over Iran-Linked Murder Plot in Britain
Christian Organisations File Charity Complaints Against Amnesty International UK
Ofgem Tightens Grid Connection Rules for New Data Centres
FTSE 100 Reaches Record High Despite Global Technology Sell-Off
Millions of UK Households Urged to Check Eligibility for Winter Energy Discount
Labour Restores Parliamentary Whips to Diane Abbott and Joani Reid
UK Supreme Court to Hear Challenge Over Palestine Action Ban
UK Commits More Than £8.4 Billion to Dreadnought Nuclear Submarine Programme
England Declares Severe Drought as Wildfire Burns Near Sizewell Nuclear Site
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 3.75% as Middle East Tensions Fuel Inflation Risks
Drought Status Extended Across All of Wales as Heat and Dry Weather Deepen Environmental Strain
Record-Low Danube Exposes Probable Mammoth Remains in Bulgaria
UK Business Confidence Climbs to Four-Month High
Greater Manchester Gains Expanded Powers Under Regional Funding Reforms
UK Supreme Court to Hear Appeal Over Palestine Action Terror Ban
Shell's Quarterly Profit Doubles to Nearly $10 Billion on Higher Energy Prices
UK Government Removes VAT From Household Electricity Bills
Exceptional Drought Grips Half of England as Wildfire Threatens Sizewell
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 3.75% as Inflation Risks Persist
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
The chief executive of the popular gaming company laid off many employees and his pay rose to 38 million dollars
UK Employment Holds Steady as Wage Growth Remains Moderate
England to Introduce Artificial Intelligence into Secondary School Curriculum
Wales Launches £1.2 Billion Industrial Regeneration Programme
High Court Upholds UK Digital Surveillance Framework
Northern Ireland Reaches Budget Agreement on Infrastructure and Public Sector Pay
Home Office Expands Digital Border Checks Nationwide
UK Approves Major North Sea Wind and Carbon Capture Project
The World's Most Terrifying Smartphone: Recording, Documenting, and Reporting to the Regime
Scotland Approves Major Renewable Energy Expansion
UK and United States Sign AI and Semiconductor Cooperation Pact
UK Treasury Tightens Fiscal Controls After Gilt Market Volatility
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 4.5%
UK Unveils £10 Billion NHS Funding Overhaul and Workforce Reform
The AI User Nightmare: Private Claude Conversations Leaked to the Internet
UK: Former Football Association Leaders Call for World Cup Boycott Over FIFA Privatization Plan
Forbidden Love: China severs millions from their virtual partners
×