healthcare
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The Karenavirus Pandemic: The Diagnosis, Treatment and Causes of KAVID-19
In late 2019, after drinking a farm-fresh, free-range, organic kale smoothie latte from a quaint farmers market in a newly-gentrified section of Brooklyn, Karen Rebecca Kaleighanne Ashley Thompson noticed that she had lost her sense of taste and smell. She sniffed two Gwyneth Paltrow vagina-scented candles to no avail. She tried tasting chicken seasoned with…
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Pennsylvania County Declares Racism a Public Health Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has fully illuminated the effect that decades of ingrained, systemic racism has had on the black community. The pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on black people on the economic front, in the severity of the virus’s symptoms, and in the racial disparity of its treatment. In Pittsburgh, an effort is underway…
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During COVID-19, Black Women Are Still Dying From Not Being Taken Seriously
About a year ago I made up my mind to never give birth to a child in the United States. The decision came after I stumbled into an urgent care clinic in the Chicago neighborhood I lived in, after hours of lying on the couch in my apartment feeling weak and severely dehydrated yet unable…
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New York State Paid $69 Million for Ventilators It Never Received
An electrical engineer from Silicon Valley claimed via Twitter that he could supply the state of New York with ventilators to help overwhelmed hospitals in need. Despite him having no background in supplying medical equipment, he was awarded a $69 million contract to supply ventilators to the state. Those ventilators never arrived. BuzzFeed reports that…
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99-Year-Old Black Woman Survives COVID-19 Infection Just in Time for Her 100th Birthday
Since the beginning stages of the coronavirus pandemic, our newsfeeds have been filled with horror stories about the devastating impact the outbreak has had on people’s daily lives as well as their very lives. But every so often, we come across inspiring stories that warm the heart. In Albany, Ga., a 99-year-old woman who has…
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Thanks to Black Women, There's More Political Interest in Fixing Black Maternal Care Than Ever Before
Racial disparities in maternal care have been an issue for decades—and for decades, many politicians were content with ignoring the issue or made decisions that actively exacerbated inequality. But in recent years, there has been a sea change nationwide as more elected officials at every level of government have committed themselves to addressing black maternal…
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How Is the Coronavirus Affecting Black Voters? A New Poll Reveals Key Takeaways for 2020
The 2020 elections will forever be marked by the coronavirus, but how the pandemic will affect voter turnout—and equally as important, voter mindsets—remains to be seen. A new poll from the political action committee BlackPAC, however, provides some important insight into the pandemic’s impact on black voters in crucial swing states. Among the key takeaways:…
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New York City to Release Data Showing Racial Disparities in Coronavirus Impact
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the United States, there have been more and more calls for data to be released detailing the racial disparity in cases and care. In New York City, that data will hopefully be released sooner rather than later. NBC News reports that on Tuesday New York City Mayor Bill de…
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Coronavirus Is Exposing America's Separate but Unequal Healthcare System. But Will It Change It?
As the child of Jamaican immigrants, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to trek across New York City to attend one of the most exclusive high schools in the country (Stuyvesant High School), and one of the country’s best historically black colleges (Hampton University). After serving as an Air Force physician, I intentionally…
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Report: Black People Are Contracting and Dying of Coronavirus at Higher Rates
One of the more insidious bits of misinformation in the early days of the pandemic was the idea that black people were somehow, as if by magic, immune to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Not only was that rumor grossly inaccurate, a new report reveals that black people are getting hit by the…