Love your neighbor: stay home on Easter
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
92 years serving, empowering and advocating equity in St. Louis
CAC Audited APRIL 9 – 15, 2020
Vol. 92 No. 3 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
All 12 City of St. Louis COVID-19 deaths were black ‘We must all work together like never before,’ urged n Many of the St. Louis health director pre-existing conBy Dr. Fredrick Echols For The St. Louis American For the past few weeks, as COVID-19 spreads throughout the world and the United States, a rumor has also persisted in the black community: that we are more resistant to the novel coronavirus. We are learning more about the coronavirus every day, but let me tell you this in no uncertain terms: It doesn’t care if you are black, brown, white, red, yellow or some other shade.
Dr. Fredrick Echols
The idea that African Americans are somehow resistant to it is both untrue and dangerous to the health of our community. Many of the pre-existing conditions that make the coronavirus more dangerous for some people — like heart conditions and diabetes — disproportionately affect the black community. This is why everyone in the City of St. Louis — especially African Americans — must take precautions against spreading this disease. The coronavirus pandemic has brought to light what many healthcare providers in the St. Louis region already know: the communities with the highest health disparities and lack of
ditions that make the coronavirus more dangerous for some people — like heart conditions and diabetes — disproportionately affect the black community.
Ferg-Flor suspends food service Decision made after two bus drivers die of COVID-19 By Chris King Of The St. Louis American The Ferguson-Florissant School District is suspending food distribution for the week of April 6 after one of its bus drivers who had been supporting food distribution at McCluer North High School died of COVID-19 on Sunday, April 5. Another district bus driver, who had symptoms consistent with COVID-19, passed away after a prolonged illness on Saturday, April 4. That driver supported food distribution from Cross Keys Middle School prior to spring break. The district also learned that a McCluer North staff member tested positive for the novel coronavirus on April 4. “We were not aware of any employee experiencing symptoms while Joseph working,” Superintendent Davis Joseph Davis wrote to district families on April 5 after reporting this news. The district previously reported that the principal of Duchesne Elementary School tested positive for the virus on March 30. She was exposed to an individual who tested positive while the district was on spring break and has not been in contact with students or staff since that time, the district stated. “None of the employees have worked since spring break,” Davis wrote, and they only learned of their positive results late on Saturday. “It has been more than 14 days since they worked, and anyone exposed would likely
See DEATHS, A6
Feeding the community Jeremy Ferrell and Chante Bass with Better Family Life’s Neighborhood Outreach Program loaded groceries for a community member at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ drivethrough food distribution event Thursday, April 2 at the agency’s Jennings location. The line of cars extended down Jennings Station Road to Highway 70 by 9 a.m., though the event was not scheduled to start until noon.
See FERG-FLOR, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Transit workers want more protection as first worker dies from COVID-19 14 Bi-State workers from six different locations have tested positive By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American
Residents in the Ville neighborhood boarded and exited a Metro bus from the back at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Whittier Avenue on Tuesday, April 7 so as not to pass the driver because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Bi-State Development, which operates Metro Transit, reported the death of a worker from COVID-19 on Tuesday, April 7. “The impacts of n “Everybody is this horrible disease are devastating, afraid, because and today’s loss is people are dying a stark reminder of from this.” the serious threat COVID-19 poses to – Reginald Howard, our families, friends, president of the and communities,” Amalgamated Union Bi-State said in an Local 788 unsigned statement. To date, 14 Bi-State Development Metro Transit workers from six different locations have tested positive for COVID-19, the statement said. “In response, anyone who had close contact with these team members was identified See TRANSIT, A6
COVID-19 and ‘structural racism’ Blacks being infected at much higher rates, getting far sicker By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American It’s eerie. In October, Dr. Alex Garza, chief medical officer for St. Louis-based SSM Health, sat down to write an article titled “Guns, Germs and Health Care: Lessons Observed and Learned.” It was a chilling foresight into what our region is now facing. “In many ways, however, infectious diseases are similar to gun violence,” Garza wrote. “They affect the poor and vulnerable disproportionately and can span from small intense episodes, such as a case of meningitis or sepsis, to full-blown disasters, such as the H1N1 pandemic or recent Ebola virus outbreaks.” He wrote the article before the first novel coronavirus case was reported on November 17 in China. Now Garza is the face of the St. Louis region’s medical response to COVID-19. He is the incident commander for the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, which includes four major health care systems: BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St Luke’s Hospital. Every day, he gives a briefing on the See COVID-19, A6
Photo by Wiley Price