Volunteers drop off cleaning supplies and masks at the Rea of Hope in Charleston.
Human beings are social creatures and the pandemic is taking a toll on all of us in one way or another. It’s also bringing to light just how important human connection is in our lives.
This week on
Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear from folks who are overcoming these challenges on top of maintaining sobriety and staying on the path to recovery.
As we grapple with the immediate health emergency of the coronavirus pandemic and celebrate the hope found in vaccines and infections going down here in Appalachia we’re also struggling with two other public health crises: the opioid epidemic, and a large uptick in HIV cases. Researchers believe the crises are linked.
On this West Virginia Morning, health disparities between white communities and Black and Latino communities have existed for years. But the coronavirus has made it even more obvious. Also, in this show, we have the latest statehouse news and an update on West Virginia baseball.
Healthcare provider giving the COVID-19 vaccination to a Black West Virginian in Institute, WV.
COVID-19 exposes an us and them divide in healthcare. The coronavirus is about three times more likely to put African-American and Latino people in the hospital and they are twice as likely than whites to die from COVID.
For this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay speaks with Black West Virginians fighting to keep their community healthy during the pandemic.
COVID-19 numbers show the pandemic has hit Black and Brown people hard. The coronavirus is about three times more likely to put African-American and Latino people in the hospital and they are twice as likely than whites to die from COVID. The reasons for this disparity are as old as they are complex. Inequities in health care are rooted in the historical racism of our institutions. They are part of the reason some people of color don’t trust public health efforts or the healthcare industry in general.
Grandfamilies and the Pandemic
Us & Them host Trey Kay speaks with West Virginian grandparents about the challenges of raising grandchildren during COVID-19. He also talks with Bonnie Dunn, director of West Virginian State University’s “Healthy Grandfamilies” program and Ana Beltran, co-director of National Center on Grandfamilies.
Older people are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. That’s a challenge when people in their 60s, 70s and 80s are full time caretakers for grandkids.
The opioid epidemic has made more than 2.5 million children nationally part of a ‘Grandfamiliy,’ a household headed by someone over 60. Social distancing isn’t an option when grandparents are tending to diapers, making meals and overseeing homework full time. Some are even essential workers. And COVID has only exacerbated opioid addictions and deaths.
WVPB
Vials of Pfizer s coronavirus dose sit on a table at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and exacerbated societal inequities.
Black and Latino populations have suffered higher infection rates. People working low-income jobs are more likely to be considered essential and therefore required to work in-person while others have the luxury of working remotely.
The pandemic has pushed many people who were already living paycheck to paycheck out of work. Despite programs to provide rental and utility relief, some have lost their homes. At one point last summer, 60 percent of people in West Virginia said they were at risk of being homeless, according to a study by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy.