The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation is giving Xavier University of Louisiana $420,000 to create strategies to combat disproportionate COVID-19 transmission among African Americans in the New Orleans area, which has had one of the highest rates of mortality from COVID-19 in Louisiana and the U.S.
“The CDC Foundation cooperative agreement will provide support in the development of community health workers and students to assist with community outreach and engagement, which are important elements of gaining community members’ trust and acceptance of public health-based COVID-19 mitigation strategies related to hand washing, physical distancing, vaccination, contact tracing, and wearing face masks which help prevent the transmission and reduce the spread of the coronavirus disease,” said Dr. Faye Grimsley, Department Head of Public Health Sciences and principal investigator.
