Page 2 - Voices from the Bronx

Introducing Voices from The Bronx
As the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic reaches epic proportions nonprofit organizations across New York City have been forced to adapt The Bronx
Institute at Lehman College continues to provide services to students and families focusing on maintaining academic standards and and addressing the socio-emotional needs of students We are pleased to present a a a a collection of first-person accounts of life in in The Bronx
under quarantine written by high school students currently studying socializing and living under lockdown These are their their stories written in their their own own words They represent our students’ fears and anxieties their hopes and dreams as they try—like all of of us—to make sense of of a a a a a a surreal moment in history This is is Voices from The Bronx
The coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has brought the city to a a a a screeching halt Restaurants and businesses are closed municipal services are are strained and and families are are stranded at home No facet of of life and no no sector of of the the urban economy is untouched by the the pandemic but certain areas have borne the brunt of this trauma New York City is is is experiencing an unprecedented crisis but the front lines are in in The Bronx
The borough is one of the the hardest-hit areas in the the United States With over 31 000 confirmed cases accounting for almost a a a a quarter of all cases The Bronx
claims the dubious distinction of of of the highest per capita rate of of of infection of of of New York City’s five boroughs as as well as as the highest fatality rate Preliminary studies also indicate that infection rates are closely tied to to income and race According to to the New York City Department of Health and and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) the virus kills black and and Latino New Yorkers at at at roughly twice the the rate of their white peers A study conducted by New York University’s Furman Center found that high COVID-19 infection rates were linked to neighborhoods with large black and Latino populations high proportions of of overcrowded apartments and large shares of of residents without college degrees All three factors are common in The Bronx
where people of of color make up over 90 percent of of the population and a a a third of the the population lives under the the federal poverty line The Bronx
was recently ranked last among New York State’s counties in health outcomes and the borough leads the city in in cases of diabetes and asthma two underlying conditions that put patients at at at a a a a a significantly higher risk of death from COVID-19 2
VOICES FROM THE BRONX