By Deborah Bailey, AFRO D.C. Editor As residents across the DMV start the Memorial Day holiday weekend, COVID-19 rates are slowly starting to climb in D.C. and in neighboring Prince George’s County. Though both locations have seen an uptick in cases, the two jurisdictions have moved in different directions regarding guidance over the increasing infection […]
Category: Coronavirus
Posted inWord In Black
#WordinBlack: How one Baltimore City Public School has integrated pandemic technology into daily in-person routines
By Sohn Butts, Ed.D, Special to the AFRO It was just over two years ago when Covid-19 pandemic turned schools across the country, and indeed the world, upside down. Baltimore City Public Schools, like many other school districts, scrambled to find 21st century educational solutions during a global crisis. Fast forward. As Baltimore City Public […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Morton Street Dance Center students danced their way through COVID
By Beverly Richards, Special to the AFRO You can find a cornucopia of dancers of various skin tones and sizes at Morton Street Dance Center (MSDC). Diversity and inclusion have been the cornerstone of the Center since its inception 30 years ago. “We come with many different forms and shapes, and everyone can move,” said […]
Posted inHealth
FDA limits the use of Janssen COVID-19 vaccine to certain individuals
By Special to the AFRO The Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, put on the market by Johnson & Johnson, was revised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this month. The revised authorization limits its use to individuals aged 18 or older for whom other approved COVID-19 vaccines are unavailable […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Pandemic gets tougher to track as COVID testing plunges
By Laura Ungar, The Associated Press Testing for COVID-19 has plummeted across the globe, making it much tougher for scientists to track the course of the pandemic and spot new, worrisome viral mutants as they emerge and spread. Experts say testing has dropped by 70 to 90 percent worldwide from the first to the second […]
Posted inINTERNATIONAL
For widows in Africa, COVID-19 stole husbands, homes, future
By KRISTA LARSON and CHINEDU ASADU, Associated Press UMUIDA, Nigeria (AP) — As Anayo Mbah went into labor with her sixth child, her husband battled COVID-19 in another hospital across town. Jonas, a young motorcycle taxi driver, had been placed on oxygen after he started coughing up blood. Jonas would never meet his daughter, Chinaza. […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Nurses testify at OSHA hearing, demand the agency break with CDC guidance to prevent spread of COVID-19 at work
By Special to the AFRO The nation’s largest union of registered nurses testified recently at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) informal rulemaking hearing for occupational exposure to Covid-19 in health care settings. National Nurses United (NNU) Presidents Jean Ross, RN and Deborah Burger, RN and NNU industrial hygienist Rocelyn de Leon-Minch all spoke […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Year two and counting: how nurses are still weathering front lines of pandemic
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Health Writer In 2020 the World Health Organization declared the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. The goal was to recognize the significant contributions of nurses to health care, the risks associated with nursing shortages and the challenges inherent to the profession. The goals turned out to be most […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Black doctor shares advice to minority health care workers and patients
By Josephine Reid, Special to the AFRO As we look to trusted messengers when it comes to taking care of our health in Black America, having a physician who shares not only your skin tone but also your experiences and family background is crucial- especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Samira L. Brown, the primary […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Overcoming tragedy: surviving two rounds of COVID-19 in Detroit
By Darryl Sellers, Special to the AFRO There’s rarely a day that goes by when we don’t hear or read about how the pandemic has adversely affected the lives of Black Americans, leading them on unexpected twists and turns. This is especially true for Latresa Rice, who is on a mission to share her poignant […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Baltimore Community Foundation urges community organizations addressing racial disparities in vaccination coverage to apply for new COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Fund
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afrocom The Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF) has opened applications for the COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Fund, a $900,000 grant program for Baltimore community organizations that have programs and projects seeking to boost vaccination specifically among Black and LatinX adults aged 18 to 24 in Baltimore […]
Posted inCoronavirus
CDC estimates 3 in 4 kids have had coronavirus infections
By Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press Three out of every four U.S. children have been infected with the coronavirus and more than half of all Americans had signs of previous infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers estimated in a report on April 26. The researchers examined blood samples from more than 200,000 Americans […]