How Octavia Spencer Is Helping Hospitals Battle COVID-19

Octavia Spencer felt “helpless” watching from the sidelines as medical teams around the nation struggled to treat patients dying from the coronavirus, she wrote Tuesday (April 29) on Instagram.

The Oscar-winning actress decided to join the fight by donating breathing monitors to medical facilities.

“Seeing what is happening in the communities that I love, I have teamed up with @Mikucare to donate monitors to nursing and medical facilities in Alabama and New York to provide much needed relief to nurses as they navigate care for COVID-19 patients,” Spencer wrote.

The monitors that Spencer donated are contactless, and offer “the ability to detect nuanced changes in breathing patterns,” she said, noting that “respiration is one of the earliest indicators of illness.

These hi-tech monitors feature two-way talk and video functions, as well as the ability to indicate a problem before other symptoms are recognized.

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“Please everyone do your part to stay safe and stay home in order to protect yourself and the ones you love most and I hope we can all find ways – small and large – to give back to our neighbors, family, and those on the frontlines,” Spencer urged her Instagram followers.

For the latest on the coronavirus, check out BET’s blog on the virus, and contact your local health department or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.