Masks Become a Creative Adventure Page 16 Vol. 55, No. 26 • April 9 - 15, 2020
Religious Leaders Make Palm Sunday a Virtual Reality By Hamil Harris WI Contributing Writer
5 A member of Allen AME Church in Southeast hands out palms April 5 to members who drove up in cars. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan asked all state residents to take a moment on Palm Sunday to pray for health care and essential employees on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as those who are sick and dying. The governor’s ecumenical call for prayer came at a time when most houses of worship remained closed at the start of the holiest week of the year for Christians, the beginning of Passover for the Jews and on the outset of Ramadan. With the global health crisis looming over virtually all facets of life, religious groups have had to
adapt to express their faith beyond brick and mortar. “This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, and Wednesday is the beginning of Passover,” Hogan told reporters in Annapolis. “Regardless of your own faith or beliefs, each and every one of us is now being asked to make sacrifices that fit that may very well help us save the lives of others.” Hogan said even though it’s unsafe to gather in physical places of worship across the state, he said Marylanders should pray in their own manner. Apparently the preferred method of worship was online, as many
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COVID-19 Cases Surging Among Local Universities Look to Future Beyond Pandemic Blacks – But Why?
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins
CDC Data Cites Underlying Conditions as Possible Cause By Sarafina Wright, WI Contributor and D. Kevin McNeir, WI Editor COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has dominated headlines since medical experts announced its life-threatening appearance in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and its rapid spread to hundreds of countries in a matter of months resulting in a global pandemic. According to John Hopkins University, the respiratory disease has claimed the lives of 10,000 Americans and more than 75,000 people around the world as of Monday, April 6. Determined to be especially deadly for the elderly, people with underlying health conditions or those who have been diagnosed as immunocompromised, a com-
bination of these three factors, with the addition of inadequate access to medical facilities, the lack of health insurance or unemployment further contribute to the deadly impact of COVID-19. In the U.S., New York City has become the epicenter for this disease attributing to more than 3,000 deaths. Behind New York are two Midwestern locations: Wayne County, Michigan (the county which includes Detroit) with 346 deaths and Cook County, Illinois (the county which includes Chicago) with 209 deaths. Both counties and the largest cities within them, Detroit and Chicago, have signif-
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Shortly after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic, university officials across the country set in motion plans for a mass transition to virtual learning that would start after campus buildings shut down, students went home and faculty members were trained and equipped. Since then, students, many living hundreds of miles away from the college life with which they’ve grown familiar, have eased into the routine of 5 A photograph of Howard University. (Courtesy photo)
FALL SEMESTER Page 5
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