Rev. William Barber diagnosed with COVID-19. He has mild symptoms but is doing well
The Rev. William J. Barber, leader of the Moral Monday protests in North Carolina and co-founder of the national Poor People’s Campaign, has tested positive for COVID-19 but is doing well.
“In my regular testing routine, I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Barber said in a release Wednesday night. “My symptoms so far are very mild, and I am following CDC guidelines to notify close contacts and isolate for five days. I want to express my gratitude for the vaccines and booster shots that prepared my body to fight the virus, and I encourage anyone who has not received a vaccine or booster, if they are eligible, to do so as soon as possible.
“Even as we take every possible precaution to prevent the spread of this virus, new and extremely contagious variants emerge,” Barber said. “Throughout this pandemic I have noted that poor and marginalized people are hurt first and worst by a public health crisis.
“As we continue to organize and build power for a Mass Poor People’s Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls on June 18, we must do all we can to care for one another by preventing the spread of COVID-19. Recent estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggest it would only take $50 billion to fully vaccinate the whole world. Let’s choose life over profit, and do it now.”
Barber, 58, was photographed getting a Johnson & Johnson vaccine last March alongside then-N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen.
They were hoping to inspire others to get protection against the virus.
Barber lives in Goldsboro and travels extensively in his work for the Poor People’s Campaign.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 10:23 PM.
