In March, black deaths from COVID in Buffalo were on track to being as bad as the rest of the USA. The black community is 15% of the population of the county, but was 36% of the deaths.
Then Rev. Kinzer Pointer and his team started their public health program. Now the deaths are 16%. This isn't happening in the rest of the USA.
This saved many lives.
This is what they did:
- Find trusted community leaders from the black community. This is key.
- Add public health professionals and doctors to the work group.
- Set up testing sites in the black community - as many sites as possible.
- Provide transportation and connections to primary care practitioners.
- Provide extensive educational efforts, including on masks, hand-washing, avoiding crowds, and other established public health measures.
- Establish a call center.
- Help with food security by delivering fruits, vegetables, beans and rice.
These simple measures save lives. It will take some organization (and some money), but it looks doable anywhere.
Rev. Kinzer Pointer is available to talk about the details. Email me and I'll get you in touch: [email protected].