DETROIT — A large mural honoring a firefighter and other Detroit public employees who died from COVID-19 has been unveiled on the side of a building.
Capt. Franklin Williams of the fire department dominates the painting. But there are images of a bus driver who made an emotional plea for protection from COVID-19 before he caught the virus, and 5-year-old girl Skylar Herbert, who was the daughter of a firefighter and police officer.
“This mural represents community heroes representing those institutions who also fought for our country by putting on a uniform and fighting an unknown enemy: COVID-19,” said Odie Fakhouri, chief operating officer of the Arab American and Chaldean Council, which owns the building on Seven Mile Road.
Williams, 57, was eligible to retire from the fire department but wanted to work until age 60. He died last summer.
The mural, which faces a Detroit fire station, was created by artist Charles “Chazz” Miller with assistance from students at University of Detroit Mercy, the Detroit Free Press reported. It was unveiled Sunday.
___
MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— UK does surge vaccinations at a rugby stadium in London to fight off the variant first found in India
— American veterans return to Memorial Day traditions as pandemic eases
— China re-imposes travel curbs on southern province after fresh virus cases
— Vietnam to test all 9 million residents of Ho Chi Minh city amid outbreak
___
Follow more of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
___
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
FALLON, Nev. — Doctors and nurses are staffing mobile clinics throughout the U.S. to ensure people in tiny towns and far-flung rural areas can get vaccinated.
In Nevada, Arizona, Kentucky and elsewhere, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has dispatched the mobile units to places that lack pharmacies, clinics and other vaccination sites.
Volunteer doctors and nurses in Nevada have teamed up with the National Guard to deliver thousands of shots to communities that state officials say couldn’t offer vaccinations any other way. It’s one of many efforts underway as the nation struggles to reach herd immunity as interest wanes in vaccinations.