Throughout 2020, they provided free testing in the parking lots of local churches, mosques, community centers and SEPTA stations, eventually offering antibody testing and flu shots as well as Covid testing. And the third time … there were 500 people lined up before we started,” she said. The second time we went out, we did about 150 tests. So, she gathered up PPE from her office, got testing kits, rented a van and headed out to bring free testing to areas where positivity rates were the highest. “But wherever Black people were, one thing that was tough to come by was testing.” They were keeping the city and the country running,” she said. Knowing they weren’t getting tested deeply upset her. Stanford knew that people of color were more vulnerable to Covid-19 for many reasons, including that they were likely to be essential workers. Then a Drexel University researcher reported that people in affluent white areas of the city were being tested six times more frequently than those in poor minority areas. But in March 2020, her work slowed dramatically when the country shut down, so she hunkered down at home with her husband and three young sons.Įarly that April, she was disturbed to hear about the high fatalities of Black residents in Philadelphia. She became a surgeon and built a successful private practice. “That grit that comes from being a poor kid raised in Philadelphia is what has given me the tenacity to press on, no matter what.” “I knew I wanted to be a doctor from the time I was about 8 years old … and I never believed I couldn’t do it,” she said. But that didn’t keep Stanford from dreaming big. Born to teen parents in north Philadelphia, her family often struggled to make ends meet. It’s an unlikely path for Stanford, a pediatric surgeon, but she’s always defied expectations. “Those who are most vulnerable … they need to have the support.” “We are intentional about focusing on communities that have the low vaccination rates and the highest positivity rates,” said Stanford, whose organization has been praised as a model to reduce health care inequality by the CDC. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Mark Lennihan/APĪs Covid-19 deaths hit record lows, those dying are younger and more disproportionately Black than before The wall features banners that say "Naming the Lost" in six languages: English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Yiddish and Bengali. The memorial is part of the Naming the Lost project which attempts to humanize the victims who are often just listed as statistics. A woman passes a fence outside Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery adorned with tributes to victims of COVID-19, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in New York.
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