He was one of a group of men with disabilities who worked for substandard wages at a turkey plant but found justice. He succumbed to the new coronavirus. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. If Willie Levi had enjoyed choice in life, he would have gone back to Texas — back to the small city of Orange, where he had played the spoons, sung the blues and lived in a shotgun house crowded with cousins. But Mr. Levi never had much choice. He was sent first to an institution and then to Iowa, where he and other men with intellectual disabilities worked in virtual servitude at a turkey-processing plant for decades. He never made it back to Orange. To read more on this story, click here:Willie Levi, 73, Dies; He Escaped a Life of Servitude
Governments should consider several steps to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on people with disabilities, including removing individuals from institutions and granting testing priority, according to guidance from the United Nations. In an 11-page document issued this week, the U.N. Human Rights Office said that countries and other stakeholders ought to do more to address the needs of people with disabilities who are being inordinately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. To read more on this story, click here:UN Calls For Better Protections For Those With Disabilities During Pandemic
With restaurants and stores already showing their appreciation towards nurses and health care workers as the front liners of the coronavirus pandemic, locations across the country are showing some extra love for National Nurses Week from May 6 to 12. The celebration comes at the heels of members of the National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the U.S., protesting in front of the White House on April 21 to call attention to the thousands of health care workers nationwide who have become infected with COVID-19 due to lack of personal protective equipment. To read more on this story, click here: National Nurses Week: Freebies and Discounts for Health Care Workers May 6 -12
(CNN)The need to wear facemasks in public during the coronavirus pandemic established a new normal for people around the world. But it also created a new challenge for the hearing impaired. During curbside treatments, Dr. Sheri Mello, an audiologist in Raleigh, North Carolina, discovered that her patients were really struggling to hear because of street noise and the face coverings of her staff. "The covered masks cut down the volume level by 10 decibels," Mello told CNN. "And that's a lot. You're cutting a quarter of the volume." To read more on this story, click here:This Doctor Hands Out Clear Masks for Free to Help Her Hearing-Impaired Patients
