Fantastic Voyage Generic Graphics Updated Nov 2023
Black America Web Featured Video
CLOSE

As city dwellers settle into the new way of life in the age of the coronavirus, many in rural America have yet to feel the effects of the pandemic and continue with life as usual.

But the Trump administration is hoping to change this as it tries to hammer home the importance of stopping the spread of the disease. Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, pleaded with rural communities in the U.S. to prepare for the spread of coronavirus, “even though you think it’s not there.”

“If you wait for that, if the metros and rural areas don’t take care now, by the time you see it, it has penetrated your community pretty significantly. And that’s what we’re concerned about. And that’s why you have to prepare, even though you think it’s not there,” Birx said on NBC’s Today Show on Monday.

States

A video of a large birthday party in a Los Angeles neighborhood has gone viral. In the 5-minute video, a large group of police officers are seen attempting to maneuver the crowd of adults and children out of the neighborhood without using force. Party goers, who vowed to return, disperse reluctantly. California has declared a state of emergency in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. There are now almost 150 deaths in California.

Much-needed help has arrived in New York City. The US Navy Hospital Ship Comfort will help relieve overburdened hospitals in the city. The ship contains 12 fully equipped operating rooms and 1,000 hospital beds. An additional field hospital is being built in Central Park and is expected to be operational by today.

Idle convention centers in Dallas and Chicago are being transformed into hospitals to treat coronavirus patients.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a stay-at-home order for southern part of the state, in response to the growing number of coronavirus cases in Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

1,265 members of a Pentecostal church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana attended service on Sunday, despite a statewide ban of gatherings of more than 50 people and a stay-at-home order. Louisiana currently has one of the highest per-capita coronavirus death rates in the country.

New Orleans has reported more than 1,400 cases of coronavirus. At least 86 people have died from the illness.

In Texas, inmates sue for sanitizer and soap to help stave off coronavirus spread. The lawsuit alleges that Texas state inmates can’t get access to hand sanitizer because of state policy — even while some inmates have been forced to make it.

An inmate at Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois has died and 12 other incarcerated individuals are now hospitalized.

Economy & Business

With stores closed and online sales slowing due to coronavirus, Macy’s is furloughing a majority of its 125,000 employees.

Producers of the 2020 Essence Festival have postponed the event. The gathering will take place closer to the fall.

Workers test positive for coronavirus at Amazon locations in Washington state and California. Fellow co-workers who were in contact with the diagnosed workers have been advised to stay home with pay for 14 days in self-quarantine.

Efforts

Johnson & Johnson will begin trials of its coronavirus vaccine by September, with plans to make it available for emergency use by early next year.

Beginning April 20, Ford will begin producing 50,000 ventilators in Michigan over the next 100 days, the company announced today.

Latest Numbers

In just one week, coronavirus cases have quadrupled in the United States. There are now over 160,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths.