By Deborah Bailey, AFRO D.C. Editor Washington D.C. has experienced a slight increase in Covid-19 rates as the new BA.2 strain takes hold in the District. At the beginning of April, the Covid-19 threat level increased to medium, the first time the threat level increased from a ranking of low since January. BA.2 now accounts […]
Category: Coronavirus
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Hip-hop pioneer DJ Kay Slay dies of COVID-19 at age 55
By The Associated Press News Pioneering hip hop artist Keith Grayson, who performed as DJ Kay Slay and worked with top stars, has died of complications from COVID-19. Grayson’s death at age 55 on Sunday was confirmed by his family in a statement released through New York radio station HOT 97, where he hosted “The […]
Posted inHealth
Why Health Concerns Are at the Heart of the New Amazon and Starbucks Unions
By Alexa Spence for Word in Black When news broke on April 1, that Amazon workers in Staten Island, N.Y. had managed to organize the first union in the notoriously anti-union company’s 27-year history, a common refrain across social media went something like this: This is not an April Fool’s Day joke. The news was […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Cheers and fears as the U.S. ends mask mandates for travel
By Curt Anderson The Associated Press News A federal judge’s decision to strike down a national mask mandate was met with cheers on some airplanes but also concern about whether it’s really time to end one of the most visible vestiges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The major airlines and many of the busiest airports rushed […]
Posted inCoronavirus
It’s not over: COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in US
By Laura Ungar, AP Science Writer Yet again, the U.S. is trudging into what could be another COVID-19 surge, with cases rising nationally and in most states after a two-month decline. One big unknown? “We don’t know how high that mountain’s gonna grow,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins […]
Posted inCoronavirus
New research: 63 percent of Maryland’s Black and Hispanic children lived in financial hardship pre-pandemic
By Special to the AFRO The majority of Maryland’s Black and Hispanic children — 61 percent and 68 percent respectively — lived in households that couldn’t afford the basics in 2019. This statistic was compared to 31 percent of White children who couldn’t afford necessities during the same year, according to a new report from […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Philadelphia to restore indoor mask mandate as cases rise
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Philadelphia became the first major U.S. city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate on Monday after reporting a sharp increase in coronavirus infections, with the city’s top health official saying she wanted to forestall a potential new wave driven by an omicron subvariant. Confirmed COVID-19 cases have risen more than […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Univ. of GA Study: White Americans show less concern about Covid if they believe it’s “not a White people problem”
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent, @StacyBrownMedia White people were more likely to ignore safety precautions like wearing masks and social distancing during the pandemic when they realized the various and disproportionate ways COVID-19 affected African Americans and other minorities. Psychologists at the University of Georgia’s Department of Social Science & Medicine […]
Posted inCoronavirus
President Biden acknowledges “long COVID” as a new disability, orders national research
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Zeke Miller, The Associated Press News Confronting the pandemic’s lasting shadow, President Joe Biden on April 5 ordered a new national research push on long COVID, while also directing federal agencies to support patients dealing with the mysterious and debilitating condition. Biden assigned the Department of Health and Human Services to […]
Posted inCoronavirus
PRESS ROOM: COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over for Black Americans, report warns
By Black PR Wire (Black PR Wire) – A searing report released recently by the Black Coalition Against COVID details the immense toll the Covid-19 pandemic has taken — and continues to take — on Black communities, and calls for continued vigilance and action to prevent further losses even as the rest of the nation is eager to […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Mayor Scott announces additional $4 million to support Baltimore nonprofits with COVID-19 impact
By Special to the AFRO On March 25, Mayor Brandon M. Scott and Baltimore Civic Fund President HyeSook Chung announced an additional $4 million in economic recovery funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for nonprofit organizations located in Baltimore City. This funding was made available through the City’s $641 million ARPA allocation, administered […]
Posted inCoronavirus
US opens second COVID boosters to 50 and up, others at risk
By Lauran Neergaard and Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press News Americans 50 and older can get a second COVID-19 booster if it’s been at least four months since their last vaccination. On March 29, the Food and Drug Administration authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for that age group and for […]