Millions nationwide are still coping with the unexpected circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One Black Texas couple, thankfully, has a reason to celebrate: together, they've overcome the infectious disease. The wife also survived three cancer diagnoses.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Robert and Janice Beecham opened up about the last several months, detailing their path from tribulation to celebration.
"It's a blessing to be here because a lot of people didn't make it," Janice said to the outlet.
"It would have been impossible to make it with all the odds against you without God, and he has been our help, all these many years," Robert echoed.
The Dallas-based duo, who have been married for 46 years, followed all safety precautions. However, Robert still tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was consequently admitted to the hospital. Having survived one stroke in 2012 and another four years later, Robert used their April 15 anniversary as motivation to get better. By that day, he was fully recovered at home.
Unfortunately for Janice, she too contracted COVID-19. An ovarian cancer and two-time breast cancer survivor, Janice told CNN her coronavirus symptoms were mild. She'd just had surgery in February related to her latest cancer diagnosis. As an unbreakable couple motivated by their faith, Robert and Janice successfully survived two surgeries, two coronavirus diagnoses and chemotherapy — and it's certainly a cause for celebration.
According to the CDC, nearly 4.3 million people have been stricken by COVID-19, resulting in over 147,000 deaths. News4Jax reports Black Americans are dying from the virus at a rate two and a half times that for white and Asian people.
"African Americans have a higher prevalence of diabetes, higher prevalence of high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease — all of those are risk factors for COVID-19," Dr. Adam Milam, of Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told the publication. "Now is the opportunity to address some of these issues that have been lingering for three to four decades."
Among other contributing factors, Vox writes that the disproportionate numbers of COVID-19 deaths in Black communities could also be traced to higher percentages of chronic disease, depleted mental health and a lack of affordable and accessible health care and other resources.
“Whether it’s from violence in the street or violence in the healthcare system, Black Americans have been dying for not just the last three months but the last three centuries,” Utibe Essien, a practicing physician and assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, told Vox's Dylan Scott.