https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/graphics/see-which-of-the-worlds-10-longest-rivers-still-run-free 2021-02-10T07:45:32.313142Z https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/detroit-winning-spirit-helps-fight-back-coronavirus 2021-02-10T07:01:25.092592Z https://i.natgeofe.com/n/4ab42e7f-1c19-44c9-b199-3aa6794e6f31/covid-detroit-frazier-19.jpg Jerry Lovett releases a dove after the funeral service for his brother, Chester Lovett, who died of COVID-19 complications at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit. A father of ten children, family members had to rotate in and out during Chester’s funeral service at Wilson-Akins Funeral Home. Jerry Lovett remembers his brother, a retired U.S. Postal Service mail carrier as a man who loved his family and traveling. "My brother would say, I'll be back in two or three weeks and jump on a Megabus for Georgia or Mississippi or somewhere," said Jerry Lovett. "He lived a good life. He loved his 10 kids and kept them all together." https://i.natgeofe.com/n/1663b449-70cc-42c3-9443-888ee88b1777/covid-detroit-frazier-18.jpg Wilson-Akins Funeral Home's Deontaye Clay sings while Kenny Alexander plays the organ during a funeral service for Chester Lovett. Funeral homes have been pushed to the brink during the COVID-19 crisis in Detroit, one of the hardest hit cities in the country. Funeral director David Akins has never seen anything like this during the 35 years he has owned Wilson-Akins Funeral Home. "It's breathtaking and overwhelming, and kind of surreal," said Akins of the amount of death he is witnessing. "My employees and I have all come to terms with knowing we will come in contact with the virus. We are in contact with the deceased, their family and friends—it's double and triple exposure." https://i.natgeofe.com/n/5c7aabe7-05fc-4c7c-8659-fd767aadf169/covid-detroit-frazier-07.jpg Funeral services are held for COVID-19 victim Darrin Cato, a beloved security guard at the Detroit Opera House. Social distancing and safety measures limit the number of people allowed to attend funeral services. "This virus is holding up a mirror to our society, and reminding us of the deep inequities in our country, from basic lack of access to care, to access to transportation, to access to labor protections in the workplace," Governor Gretchen Whitmer said. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/d71cadae-8c2a-4aea-bb09-111c41580514/covid-detroit-frazier-08.jpg A mourner attends funeral services for COVID-19 victim Darrin Cato, a beloved security guard at the Detroit Opera House. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/d3ae2318-ac35-4494-bb91-78797c4bad3f/covid-detroit-frazier-17.jpg Dr. Marjan Moghaddam checks Marcus Robinson's lungs in the Eastern Market in Detroit. Robinson was suffering from a cough for several days, a typical symptom of COVID-19. Moghaddam recently returned to work at Henry Ford Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 on March 29th. Moghaddam and James Bastian (right) work with medical students from Michigan State University and Wayne State University as part of Detroit Street Care and Street Medicine Detroit. Moghaddam's family fled religious persecution in Iran and eventually emigrated to Canada in 1984. She has devoted her medical practice to underserved communities, including rural southern Georgia, before returning to Michigan where she teaches at MSU's medical school and works at Henry Ford Hospital Walk-In Clinics and Urgent Care Centers. "I went into medicine to save everybody, not just one person," Moghaddam said about her work with vulnerable and uninsured populations. "Because I see people at walk-in clinics my exposure was there." Many frontline health workers such as Moghaddam have contracted COVID-19. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/6ff1ea33-8249-4f1a-84a1-01b027c457f7/covid-detroit-frazier-12.jpg Across the street from General Motors world headquarters in downtown Detroit is the Spirit of Detroit, a bronze monument that represents hope, progress and the “spirit of man”. A nearby GM plant is producing up to 50,000 face masks and other protective equipment each day. Detroit’s winning spirit has been challenged by the coronavirus, which hit this midwestern U.S. city hard during the early weeks of the spread of the virus. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/11af141c-e3f8-455f-b4b2-13460a0c009c/covid-detroit-frazier-02.jpg For many low-wage essential workers required to go to work during the coronavirus outbreak, public transportation is one of the most dangerous points of exposure in their day. Here, a Detroit man waits for a bus on the city’s east side. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/370caba2-b014-4dc2-95aa-c5a83709a62e/covid-detroit-frazier-22.jpg Downtown Detroit is nearly empty as residents follow Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home orders to contain the spread of COVID-19. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/cef13326-1e43-4f20-be7c-a4521806fb90/covid-detroit-frazier-21.jpg The Detroit Police Department has been hit hard by the coronavirus. Police Sergeant Matthew Neihengen works in the city’s Real Time Crime Center. The technology has helped Detroit police overcome infections of more than 20 percent of its force at the height of the coronavirus outbreak. The department has 97 sworn officers and 17 civilians who have tested positive for the virus including Police Chief James Craig who has recovered. Of roughly 2,200 employees working for the department, 636 are quarantined; two members have died. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/f1815a6e-1a06-4c2a-a6a5-8d5f316c78e6/covid-detroit-frazier-25.jpg Valaria Griffin pours hot water into her water dispenser to wash with after returning home from work at a public laundromat in Detroit. Griffin's water was turned on at her home after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan suspended the city's controversial water shutoff program during the COVID-19 crisis. Due to damaged pipes though, Griffin still doesn't have water throughout her home or functioning steam heat. One pipe in her basement delivers cold water. Griffin's job at the public laundry is at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus. Her lack of hot water makes it difficult to wash and bathe as needed to stay clean of coronavirus. "After work you want to come home and wash your clothes and shower," Griffin said. "Running water lets you fight the virus. I need hot running water." https://i.natgeofe.com/n/fa5ba3c0-272a-4954-951c-f362cc16273f/covid-detroit-frazier-20.jpg Antonio Lopez, left, who runs Lopez Tire and Auto Accessories with his brother Eduardo Lopez, made the difficult decision to keep their shop open during Detroit's COVID-19 crisis. "My guys didn't want to stop working," Lopez said. "We realized we were an essential business so we stayed open." Most repair shops in the area closed, making Lopez Tire a beacon of light for hospital workers and first responders needing tire repair. "No one else was open and we have had nurses and doctors who needed tire repair to go to work and save lives." Keeping his staff safe has been challenging since the beginning of the crisis. "Some costumers didn't listen," said Lopez. " They walked around without masks and wouldn't stay in their cars. Now people are taking it more serious, about 98 percent are wearing masks." Recently, more custom wheels and exhaust work has been done at the shop. "Stimulus money has been pretty good for us," said Lopez. It's a much needed bonus for a small essential business on the COVID-19 frontline. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/86966265-7a01-4bf8-aa88-7d5462800052/covid-detroit-frazier-13.jpg Many essential workers like Yvette Watts, who works as a dietary aide at a nursing home in Detroit, have to take public transportation to and from work. "It makes me nervous sometimes," Watts said of riding the bus. "I'm always wearing both mask and gloves on the bus." Social distancing on public buses in Detroit means sometimes a bus cannot stop to pick up workers because they already have their limit of riders. "If there are too many people on the bus they drive by," said Watts. "That has made me late to work." https://i.natgeofe.com/n/25682ca3-9883-4366-a6fd-c9a13e66c1d2/covid-detroit-frazier-14.jpg Quinisha Jackson and her husband, Tiyea, live with three of their eight children in a Detroit motel. Khiya Jackson, 12, and her brother Khylin Jackson, 9, are pictured here with their mother. The Jackson's older children are living with family due to space limits at the hotel. Tiyea Jackson was laid off from his job at KACE Logistics, an auto body parts supplier, when Chrysler's Jefferson North Assembly Plant closed down due to COVID-19. Just two weeks shy of working long enough at KACE to receive unemployment, Tiyea and his family are among the most vulnerable in this crisis, people out of work and without financial support. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/83cb2f0f-e1f8-467f-a4a5-1a477514f8f0/covid-detroit-frazier-06.jpg Downtown Detroit has seen a resurgence of building projects and new businesses opening in recent years, bringing pride and some controversy around affordable housing to the historic city. Townhouses, restaurants, and stores have sprung up, making downtown a desirable location for young professionals. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, most projects have stopped, creating much concern that the economic crisis overtaking the world economy could halt Detroit's much needed resurgence. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/e6e37357-4449-4195-98e9-66515c3d68a2/covid-detroit-frazier-09.jpg Detroit homeless resident, Gerald Viderg, eats free lunch at the Pope Francis Center in downtown Detroit. Rev. Tim McCabe reported a doubling of the center's food distribution from 200 to more than 400 people each day since the crisis began. Several homeless shelters in Detroit have closed their doors during the crisis. https://i.natgeofe.com/n/08592847-e2b7-4b74-9028-46cbc2fa6a4a/covid-detroit-frazier-01.jpg Danielle Parnell social distances while standing in line to cash her disability check. Parnell's father is in the hospital with COVID-19, and her cousin, a fire captain in the city, died of coronavirus. Parnell suffers from Lupus, an autoimmune disease that makes her susceptible to coronavirus and more likely to develop life-threatening symptoms.