As of 5:00 pm, Perry County was the only county in the Alabama Black Belt without a case of COVID-19 confirmed by the Alabama Department of Public Health. Confirmed cases in neighboring counties include one recently confirmed case in Hale County, three in Greene county, four in Marengo County, and ten in Chilton County, as well as two confirmed cases each in Bibb, Dallas, and Wilcox counties.

Sowing Seeds of Hope has launched an online petition urging state decision makers to expand testing in the Black Belt so that the coronavirus can be controlled, rather than spreading undetected with catastrophic results to our medically underserved communities. Please visit change.org/black-belt-testing to add your signature.

Local health care providers are still in need of PPE (personal protective equipment) items like masks and gloves. If you have any of these items, please donate them to the Vaughan Clinic or Cahaba Medical Clinic in Marion, which are currently our only in-county testing sites for COVID-19.