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Vol. 31, Issue 15 QUEENS/LONG ISLAND/BRONX/MANHATTAN April 10-16, 2020
COVID
BATTLE
ENDURES
CARICOM governments continue
fight against coronavirus
By Bert Wilkinson
Caribbean Community governments
continued their battle
to limit the spread of the deadly
coronavirus in the region with
some governments turning to
Cuban medical teams for help.
Others like Jamaica are preparing
to convert public spaces
and state buildings into field
hospitals to cater for recovering
patients and in the event that
care centers are overwhelmed
by confirmed cases.
The administration of Prime
Minister Andrew Holness at
midweek announced plans
to turn the famous National
Arena into a makeshift hospital,
approving nearly $1 million
in special funds for the conversion.
The allocation will also
include special protective gear
for frontline health workers.
Work is to begin almost
immediately and could take up
to three weeks. The converted
facility will be able to house
about 130. Authorities had last
month signaled efforts to lease
up to 600 hotel rooms to cater
for recovering patients but it
appears that cabinet has signed
off on the arena as the place to
house such patients.
Authorities have also inked
deals with other hospitals to
serve as overflow centers in the
event that numbers rise exponentially.
As the fight continues, the
Barbados-based Caribbean
Development Bank (CDB) has
set aside a special package of
$3million for member countries
to purchase special protective
gear for health and emergency
workers. These includes professional
level masks, gloves,
safety gowns and others.
“With the disruption of
supply chains, increased and
soaring prices, the CBD will
purchase personal protective
equipment in bulk to achieve
value for money and certainty
of supply to frontline helpers
who are fighting the Covic-19
pandemic,” Bank Vice President
Monica LaBennet said.
The bank will work closely
with the regional emergency
response agency in coordinating
distribution of equipment.
The bank has already approved
$140 million in concession
loans to governments for the
pandemic.
Barbadian authorities,
Tribute to Frontline Fighters
We would like to pay tribute to all health professionals on the frontline including
Sybilla Daniel Douglas, MSN, RN-BC, AE-CRN who works at Brookdale Hospital in
the Outpatient Ambulatory Care Clinic, Brookdale Family Care Center at Linden,
and an adjunct clinical instructor at Medgar Evers College and is “Helping to fl atten
the curve.” Sybilla Daniel Douglas
Protect communities of color from COVID-19
By Nelson A. King
Several local legislators have
called for action to protect
communities of color, saying
that data released on Wednesday
reveals that the coronavirus
(COVID-19) disproportionately
impact minorities.
“The COVID-19 data
released today reveals that the
virus has had a disproportionate
impact on communities of
color,” said New York Attorney
General Letitia James, a
Brooklyn resident. “To say it is
disturbing would be an understatement.
Public health crises
like this both reveal and exacerbate
the depths of inequality
in our society.
“I thank Gov. (Andrew)
Cuomo for his efforts to address
these devastating disparities,
but we must all continue to do
more,” she added. “We must
expand treatment, rapid testing,
and tracking with a sharp
eye toward marginalized communities.
“We must also continue
to increase hospital capacity,
resources for safety net hospitals,
and expand language
access to ensure those communities
hit hardest have the
information they desperately
need,” James continued, stating
that more is needed “to
protect our essential workers,
many of whom are people of
color.
“That means providing and
requiring protective equipment
for public transportation
workers; grocery store, delivery,
and warehouse workers;
home health aides, nursing
home workers, and others,”
she said. “It is imperative that
we also think long term about
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