Lack of accessibility creates a dangerous deficiency in current COVID-19 testing measures in the Alabama Black Belt.  Because of our communities' high rates of poverty, lack of access to transportation, and large numbers of uninsured families, testing will only be truly accessible when it is both free and local.

Recent response to the coronavirus pandemic highlights existing health inequalities in Alabama.  A large number of Black Belt counties are served by only one hospital, while others, including Perry County, have no hospital.  Rural primary care providers are admirably seeking to test patients in their clinics following proper protocols and as their limited resources allow, but this provides no aid to uninsured Black Belt residents who cannot afford testing or to those without transportation.

We advocate for free mobile clinics to provide vital coronavirus testing to members of our Black Belt communities.  These mobile clinics could move from site to site within our counties, allowing maximum coverage for those who do not have access to transportation.  Testing programs that truly address the needs of our rural residents are the only way to prevent undetected, catastrophic spread of COVID-19 in our communities, which do not have the medical resources needed to save the lives of those who will become the most ill.

Make no mistake: there are few confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our Black Belt counties only because current testing is inadequate and inaccessible.  Undiagnosed infected individuals are now spreading the coronavirus among communities that have among the highest rates of underlying health conditions, including diabetes, in the state.

Failure to implement accessible testing programs immediately will result in unnecessary fatalities from COVID-19.  We urge you to demonstrate that you believe the lives of rural Alabamians are as valuable as the lives of Alabamians living in other parts of the state by providing immediate, adequate, and accessible coronavirus testing in the Black Belt.