Facts, Faith and Health

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Dr. Robert Winn, director of the VCU Massey Cancer Center (Photo courtesy Massey Cancer Center)

Virginians can participate in an online discussion session on the novel coronavirus with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other experts this afternoon.

Learn about the COVID-19 vaccine and gain insight into the impact of the virus in a streaming session with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, at 2:45 p.m. today. You must register to participate, and the session is expected to run through 4:30 p.m.

Panelists for the session include Virginia Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver; Dr. Robert Winn, director of the VCU Massey Cancer Center; and Sable K. (Nelson) Dyer, acting director of the office of health equity at the department of health, who will facilitate the session. Gov. Ralph Northam will provide opening remarks, as will Winn and Oliver; Janice Underwood, Virginia’s chief diversity officer; the Rev. Todd Gray, pastor of Fifth Street Baptist Church; and Rudene Mercer Haynes, a partner with the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth and an advisor to Facts & Faith Fridays, a local Richmond group of faith leaders that is a sponsor of the session. The session also is sponsored by the governor’s office of diversity, equity and inclusion, the state health department’s health equity office, and Massey Cancer Center.

COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the commonwealth. The state today reports 5,238 newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases in Virginia. The seven-day positivity rate for COVID-19 in Virginia is at 16.7%. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Virginia since the pandemic began now stands at 387,917, and at least 5,312 deaths.

The pandemic has proven to have a disproportionate impact on people of color. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in November reported that Black people are 1.4 times more likely to contract COVID-19, and are 3.7 times more likely to be hospitalized for the novel coronavirus than white people. Black people are 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. Hispanics and Latinos with COVID-19 are 4.1 times more likely to be hospitalized than whites, and 2.1 times more likely to die from the coronavirus than whites. The CDC notes that race and ethnicity are associated with risk factors that may worsen COVID-19 outcomes. Those factors include underlying conditions including diabetes and other health conditions that place people at risk, employment in occupations such as being an essential or frontline worker that increase exposure to the coronavirus, and lack of access to health care.

The video seminar also will address equitable vaccine distribution and look at some myths that have arisen over the pandemic.

Some of the myths regarding the pandemic have impeded the health care response to it, Winn says.

Early on, there was a myth circulating on social media that African Americans had little to worry about, that COVID-19 was not a Black person’s disease. That falsehood stemmed from a lack of reported cases early on from Africa, and faulty suppositions that involved Blacks and malaria and sickle cell disease, Winn says. The data has long since proven this assertion wrong. “Now that you look back on it, it was stupid,” he says.

There are also equally harmful myths circulating that falsely say if you go for a COVID-19 test, you’re being infected with the virus and, again falsely, that you will be microchipped and tracked if you receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

“It’s been really sad, the rumors still abound on the social media network,” Winn says. “It’s just crazy.”

Today’s online event is part of the Facts & Faith Fridays sessions that have been held weekly since March. Those sessions involve Winn and African American faith community leaders in the state and have tackled an array of health care issues, including the impact of the pandemic on Black people, higher rates of cancer and other health concerns facing African Americans, and other community issues. The sessions have featured interactions between clergy and Winn and other health experts from VCU, national experts from groups such as the National Institutes of Health, and other experts from academic institutions.

“I’ve been really proud of the faith-based leaders,” Winn says. “They actually see themselves as not just receivers of information, but they get this expert information and they become much better and much more effective at getting it out to their congregations.”

Group members have taken the information to heart. Winn notes that many African American faith communities have continued to heed health warnings for the pandemic and stream their services instead of holding them in person. He says they also were active in persuading state and local officials to proceed slowly in reopening the state and city following the shutdown last year in the early days of the pandemic

“They believe their No. 1 priority is getting their flock and their communities staying safe,” Winn says.

They also have expanded their efforts and had an impact on their communities at large, he says. Their efforts extend beyond direct health issues into social justice. Winn notes that they have become resources to help people who may have lost employment during the pandemic to connect with help in paying rent or obtaining housing, helped with getting people to vote, and have been at the forefront of working toward community oversight of policing in Richmond.

The faith-based leaders are serving as “an anchor institution for many people in these communities,” says Winn.

Today’s session with Dr. Fauci was originally set for the regular participants in the Friday sessions, but they wanted to open it up to everyone, says Winn. ”This is a one-time opportunity for folks in Virginia, and we think that we should open this up. They didn’t have to do that,” Winn says, adding that he found inspiration in the work of these local faith leaders.

“Every time I get really down on some things, this group has actually lifted me up, in ways of reminding me that there are people who really do care about things more than just the extra dollars they have in their pockets.”