BALTIMORE, Md. — The city tested wastewater at Latrobe Homes for months before samples in the past week revealed evidence of the coronavirus, prompting the health department to ask residents, like Evelyn Little, to submit to COVID tests before it can spread.
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“Come out just to be checked and nobody is telling them to take no needle,” said Little. “Get checked. Be sure. That’s it.”
With at estimated 3,000 residents squeezed into 800 homes here, COVID could easily flourish further victimizing a community of color, which has already bore more than its share of the sickness and loss brought on by the pandemic
“They don’t have the resources to get to where they need to get tested,” said the Housing Authority’s Resident Services Sr. Vice President Tracey Keyser. “The best way for us to protect our residents and give them the resources is to bring it to them.”
That means convincing residents that it is in their best interest to have the tests performed so anyone who tests positive can be prevented from spreading it to others.
“We’re here. We’re asked to come here for a reason,” Little told us. “I want to see it I’m part of the reason or the solution.”
A stop-gap measure while a shortage of the vaccine and a reluctance by some to seek out the shots leave this community vulnerable to an outbreak.
“I’m not really even sure how the priority is working these days, but I do know that our residents need to be safe and this is the preventative measure that we’re helping them to take to stay safe until we can pull up a van and we can vaccinate the entire community,” added Keyser.
Testing will continue here at Latrobe Homes on Wednesday and Thursday from noon to three.
