While black people have accounted for more than half of the coronavirus deaths in Philadelphia, the black community was left to rely on grassroots efforts to bring them testing while the city waited on federal funding. | From: Philadelphia Magazine (Read more.)
Philadelphia’s first grant to expand testing for the coronavirus is going to the Black Doctors Consortium, an established network of black doctors, who have been working in the communities most vulnerable to the disease. There are dozens of city sites to get a test, but few had the reach in some neighborhoods like the volunteer group. | From: NBC10/Telemundo62 (Read more.)
Locally-owned pharmacies, many of which were already facing financial challenges prior to the coronavirus, have teamed up to create a hotline to better serve customers during the pandemic. People can call the number if they have problems getting their medications. It’s also there in case a pharmacy is forced to shut down due to an outbreak among employees. | From: Metro Philadelphia (Read more.)
Saleemah McNeil says her desire to provide free therapy to people of color is not only rooted in her experience as a Black woman in America, but also seeing the hurt, anger and pain of a community left feeling broken and hopeless. According to researchers, racial trauma can result when someone experiences several instances of racism, whether in the workplace or through hate crimes, as well as racial profiling and microaggression. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
The lack of public investment in the organization has reopened a larger conflict between some City Council members and the mayor. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
City officials began clearing out about 50 homeless individuals from Philadelphia International Airport Tuesday morning, offering COVID-19 tests to anyone who asked to be transported to a shelter. | From: The Philadelphia Inquirer (Read more.)
Dentists could charge a personal protective equipment fee directly to patients or raise prices to account for the additional expense after two months without any income. Patient advocates worry that rising dental costs will inevitably fall on families who are already struggling financially during the pandemic. | From” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Read more.)
Philadelphia has added more COVID-19 testing capacity, opening a new site at the Health Center 5 community clinic on North 20th Street in the city’s Stanton neighborhood. Health Commissioner Thomas Farley pointed to the disproportionate effects of the coronavirus on Black communities, as well as low-income communities, as reasons why the city had chosen North Philadelphia for testing availability. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
As with heat, low-wage workers and communities of color have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Without safeguards against the heat in place, the compounding risk factors could lead to an increase of fatalities within these vulnerable communities, epidemiologists say. | From: WHYY (Read more.)
Officials at Philadelphia International Airport had initially planned Friday to remove the between 50 and 100 homeless people who have been sleeping at a baggage claim area underutilized during stay-at-home orders. But airport and city officials agreed to wait until Tuesday after homeless advocates threatened to file a lawsuit if the people were moved to shelters without being tested. | From: NBC 10 Philadelphia (Read more.)
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