STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Black Man Fighting Coronavirus Begs People To Listen: 'It's Nearly Impossible To Stop It From Spreading'

Kevin Harris, 55, is currently hospitalized in Ohio with COVID-19.

The news about the spread of COVID-19, known as coronavirus, has most of the country self-quarantining, but some people are still not taking the virus seriously. One Ohio man is trying to tell the world that it's worse than you think.

Kevin Harris, 55, has been diagnosed with coronavirus. He's not sure where he contracted the virus, but he believes it was when he went to a doctor's appointment in Cleveland, Ohio (he currently lives in Trumbull County). 

Harris was originally told by doctors he had the flu, but they turned out to be wrong. As his condition worsened, Harris went back to the hospital and was tested for coronavirus — and the test came back positive. Up until a few days ago, Harris was convinced he wouldn't make it, which he discussed on Facebook Live, but then he improved and thanks to his careful self-quarantine (which he started the moment he suspected the had COVID-19, before doctors confirmed it) nobody else in his family got sick, including his four children.

Harris is the fifth confirmed case in Ohio and has been hospitalized since March 8. Now, he's trying to warn others about the scale of the virus spread and the lack of preparation in hospitals.

From his hospital bed, Harris called into The Clay Cane Show on SiriusXM and said, “The alarming thing is, they have no answers to anything. They have nothing they can treat you with. They have nothing to fight this with. They have nothing to prevent it, other than to continue to tell people social-distancing and wash your hands.”
He continued, "At the same time, how many times a day do you touch your face? How many times a day do you touch surfaces that are not your face and then touch your face? This stuff is laying on surfaces or it’s on other people or on their clothes, glasses, cell phones… It's nearly impossible to stop it from spreading because we don't have the capacity to understand just how many things we touch in the course of a day."

As far as "social-distancing" and "self-quarantine" goes, Harris says that unless a person is in your line of sight 24/7, "you can not trust them." He also adds that hospitals are giving conflicting information and changing their advice on a day-to-day basis, as doctors try to figure out how to stop the spread of the virus. 

He adds that his doctors have no idea why Harris started making a recovery. "We're happy, but not any more informed than we were a week ago," he claims they said.

Harris also implores the public, especially the Black community, to ignore conspiracy theories. "Black people saying, ‘Black people can't get this’? Look Black folks, they don't get no Blacker than me, and I was dying," he says.
Harris is still not in the clear but he hopes to continue to improve.

Listen to more of Harris' warnings, below:

According to The New York Times, over 7,000 people in the United States are infected with the coronavirus and over 100 have died. Over 60 people are infected in the state of Ohio. The number is more than likely higher but the Trump administration’s testing failures have limited medical professionals on the frontlines of the virus. 

For the latest on the coronavirus, contact your local health department and visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.