Miraculous COVID-19 Recovery Keeps ICU Nurse Rooted in Hope and Faith

By Jessica Easthope

For nurses around the world, their scrubs have become their suits of armor, helping them bravely fight a war against an invisible enemy. Jessica Mock wears her armor proudly as an ICU Nurse at a Brooklyn hospital in the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis.

“Since this all happened we became a COVID positive ICU Unit, so we became critical care nurses and now all my patients were sedated, intubated,“ said Jess.

She’s unfortunately no stranger to loss.

“Back in high school I actually lost my niece Deanna, she was the most bubbly little girl I have ever met, she was perfect,” Jess said. “She had something undeveloped in her brain and that caused her to have a seizure and we lost her at an early age.”

It didn’t take long for Jess to turn a tragedy into a positive and embrace her desire to help others.

“She is why I do what I do,” Jess said of Deanna.

But over the last few months Jess has remembered how much of a toll loss can take.

“I felt like I was seeing more loss than wins, and it was very defeating,” Jess said.

Then something changed.

“He was on a ventilator, a perfectly healthy man, it broke my heart. His fever was very high so I would just pray that he would break it.” Jess said. She saw the fight in that patient.

“I’ve prayed to give strength to my patients to keep fighting for their lives,” Jess said.

His will to live became her strength.

“Within weeks he actually started controlling his breathing, he wasn’t breathing over the vent and within a couple more days he was responsive, and that was my biggest win,” Jess said of her patient.

Among the pain and sorrow of a hospital ICU unit came a glimmer of hope.

“My anxiety and my fear of this whole pandemic, he changed it to hope,” Jess said.

It’s that story of survival that keeps Jess suiting up every day. Her message now to other nurses is the same as it is for her patients.

“We are fighting this together and whether we’re in a different hospital, a different state, my win is your win. We’re saving people, and we’re getting through this,” Jess said.

So for Jess and nurses everywhere: No matter how many wins or losses, it’s your dedication, compassion and the hope you have for your patients that are getting us through this.

Washington D.C. Man Hires Mariachi Band for Fiancée’s Socially Distant Birthday Party

Currents News Staff

A man in Washington D.C. wanted to surprise his fiancée for her birthday with something special.

Charlie wood came up with the idea to hire a mariachi band to come play for them in a local park.

It was a huge hit, not just with his fiancée, but also with neighbors who showed up to join in the fun.

“I mean everything has been developing so quickly with all the COVID everything and we’ve been trying to be really good about social distancing, keeping our masks on, not gathering, and it just felt like we could do socially distanced party,” said Wood.

That little moment of levity was one of many popping up here and there as people do what they can to cheer one another up during the coronavirus pandemic.

Transfer of Nursing Home Residents Comes Too Late, Says Daughter Who Lost Her Dad to Coronavirus

By Jessica Easthope

More than 5,200 nursing home residents across New York State have died from coronavirus. Bianca Corozzo’s 72-year-old father was one of them.

“I had no idea they were closing their doors to visitors but opening their doors to residents who were potentially positive, I had no idea,” Bianca said. She never got to say goodbye.

In March, the State Department of Health began limiting visitations but requiring nursing homes to accept and readmit recovering patients, even if they were still positive. That’s when Bianca thinks her father, Anthony, got sick in his Nassau County facility.

“No, you don’t want to walk a virus into a nursing home that could kill the person you’re going to visit,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Governor Cuomo partially reversed the problematic mandate over the weekend. Now, patients must test negative before they can be discharged to nursing homes and all staff will be tested twice a week, or lose their license. Bianca says this is too little, too late.

“On day 71 to say, ‘Okay,’ there’s so much damage that’s been done I don’t know if there’s anything that could reverse that,” Bianca said.

She’s not alone in her criticism. New York State Senate Republicans have called for an independent investigation into nursing home deaths. According to the latest figures from the Department of Health, 12 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have been nursing home residents. The virus has already likely killed more than five percent of all New York nursing home residents.

“People in nursing homes and seniors, this is where this virus feeds, this is where this virus started,” said Cuomo.

The governor directed the Department of Health and the Attorney General’s Office in late April to begin investigating nursing homes for compliance with state directives. But many industry advocates have argued that those directives are constantly changing, leaving families without closure.

“I’ll never know what really happened,” Bianca said. “If it was he didn’t get the care he needed or the nurses were really over-extended.”

Churches Under Financial Strain as Donations Dry Up During Coronavirus Outbreak

Currents News Staff

During the coronavirus pandemic countless churches and other religious institutions have stepped up to serve others.

They run food pantries, raise relief funds or just offer hope to those who need it.

But, in some cases the churches themselves need help. The U.S. unemployment rate is about 15 percent. Many of those jobseekers would normally donate to a house of worship.

With those funds gone, some churches can’t pay their bills.

Coronavirus moved the congregation out and the services are now virtual – severely impacting the donation basket.

The Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church in south Los Angeles is just one of the many houses of worship impacted around the world.

“It takes financials to cover those expenses that are necessary. All of the utilities, the mortgages,” said James Arthur Rumph of Grant A.M.E. Church.

In Vatican City, the Holy Father is delivering his messages to a vacant square.

In Tennessee, the pews are parking lots for the socially distanced faithful – creative in the era of coronavirus, but not enough to cover the bills.

The latest available data shows 40 percent of congregations had no savings.

Reverend Robert Lee leads the Uni-Four church in Newton, North Carolina. Like other pastors and priests, Lee has delivered last rites to coronavirus patients.

“I’ve been having to juggle not only guiding the congregation through this pandemic, but my own crisis of faith in this. Where is God, what is God doing?” said Lee.

He’s now taken a pay cut.

“This is a make or break moment for communities of faith and not only churches but synagogues mosques or temples everywhere. We’re all struggling at this. Many churches that I know of, did not have online giving platforms until just recently,” said Lee.

Currents News full broadcast for Monday, 5/11/20

On the newscast:

– Emergency action to protect New York nursing home residents from the coronavirus. But is it coming too late?

– New York City could start reopening in June as long as progress against the outbreak stays strong.

– Dozens of New York City kids are sick with a rare illness that could be linked to Covid-19.

– The power of love overcomes the outbreak of the disease with the first marriage celebrated in the Diocese of Brooklyn in months.

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

Media Expert Shares Insight on What the Presidential Election Could Look in the Age of COVID-19

Currents News Staff

Election day is just six months away, and the 2020 campaign may go down as the most unusual presidential race in American history, as it presents unique challenges to both the news media covering it and to the candidates themselves.

For some voters, President Trump’s reelection could be determined by the job he’s doing with the coronavirus pandemic and the economy. Most at risk in the coronavirus crisis are seniors.

When the president won election, he got their votes. Now some polls suggest their support is wavering. How does he win them over on election day?

The Biden campaign is dealing with a sexual assault allegation that goes back to 1993 when Biden was a U.S. senator. How has he been handling that?

Meanwhile, the Obamas have been getting press, with the former president endorsing his former vice president Joe Biden, and Michelle Obama is also starring in a Netflix documentary.

How much power do they have in getting a Democrat back in the White House?

The Biden campaign is dealing with a sexual assault allegation that goes back to 1993 when Biden was a U.S. senator. How has he been handling that?

In the 24-hour news cycle, there are a lot more opinion shows available, where news organizations seem to lean to one side of the aisle or the other.

Is there such a thing as objective journalism anymore?

With more than 40 years experience as a television and radio journalist, founder media coaching company “Contacts Media,” Frank Cipolla, joins Currents News to lend his perspective on what the presidential election and reporting on it could look like in the age of COVID-19.

Currents News full broadcast for Saturday, 5/9/20

On the newscast:
-It has been months since parishioners have prayed in the pews. But the Bishop of Brooklyn has a plan, already in action.

-An installation from a distance as the United States gains a new Archbishop. The ceremony that would have had thousands just seated a handful.

-A sad goodbye for the Diocese of Brooklyn, but one months in the making. Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay’s body has made its way back to Mexico.

-We meet one frontline nurse that has dealt with sickness her entire life.

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

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Eggplant connoisseur JoAnn DiNapoli joins Msgr Jamie to make her signature dish!

Currents News full broadcast for Friday, 5/8/20

On the newscast:

– Songs of hope and healing are how Lincoln Center is using music to help people grieve in the age of coronavirus. It is an interfaith effort.

– The long journey home weeks after Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay’s death from Covid-19. The pastor of Brooklyn’s Saint Brigid’s parish is finally laid to rest in Mexico.

– The coronavirus crisis is causing a record 20.5-million jobs to vanish in April. The unemployment rate is now close to 15%.

– A white father and son are arrested in the murder of an unarmed black jogger in Georgia.

Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.

Ruins Dating Back to Roman Empire Rediscovered Near Pantheon

Currents News Staff

Only in a city like Rome does maintenance work on drainage systems end up unearthing second-century monuments. As lockdown restrictions in Italy begin to relax, curious onlookers have been stopping to look at ruins that, part of the ancient square, are now buried in front of the Pantheon.

“We found something that had already been partly discovered before,” explained archaeologist Fabio Turchetta. “It’s the flooring of the square from Hadrian’s era, the same period that witnessed the construction of the Pantheon we see today. The paving was made of travertine slabs, which had already been discovered in the 1990s, while the square was being restored.”

Dating back to the time of the Roman Empire, some of these slabs are still in their original positions, exactly where they were placed during Hadrian’s reign.

Unlike then, when the square was slightly lower than the Pantheon, the temple now sits slightly lower than the square.

“This shift happened because Rome grew over the centuries. Imperial Rome was covered by medieval Rome, medieval Rome by Renaissance Rome,” Fabio said. “The temple, on the other hand, which, fortunately, was converted into a church, remained unchanged. It is now one of the best-preserved Roman monuments.”

Even the most seemingly insignificant ceramic fragments are important in determining to which historical period the different layers belong.

“To give a simple example, we are able to recognize our grandparents’ fine china by simply looking at one of their plates,” added Fabio. “We can do the same with ancient ceramics. So, if we know a plate is from, say, the 1800s, then we know the layer in which it’s found is also from the 1800s.”

Although the ruins will be reburied once the drains are repaired, Fabio reassuringly tells passersby that if they want to see a second-century monument from Hadrian’s reign, all they have to do is turn around and look at the Pantheon.