Washington D.C. will be getting help in its battle against coronavirus from three political heavyweights.

Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that Former First Lady Michelle Obama will lend her voice to a robocall and a public service announcement about testing for the virus, and advising people to stay home and follow guidelines to slow its spread, The Washington Post reported.

“Early on in our response, the first lady’s office reached out to ask how she could help,” Bowser said in her announcement. 

In addition, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice have been appointed to lead a committee that will analyze how the District can reopen safely.

“We are dealing with a local, a national and a global pandemic,” Bowser said. “We have called on a great mix of people that embody all of those needs and have all of those experiences.”
They will be joined on the committee by former Washington D.C. mayors Adrian Fenty and Anthony Williams.

The Post reports that the District has been particularly hard hit with 27.2 deaths per 100,000 residents. The total number of deaths in the District and the Beltway region come in at 1,602, and the total number of cases was 36,958, with 1,522 new cases reported since Sunday, according to the Post.

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.