Racial equity task force proposed for coronavirus response in Pittsburgh

Two Pittsburgh city councilmen on Tuesday proposed a task force that would ensure the city’s minority communities receive equal treatment in government initiatives aimed at helping people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Councilmen R. Daniel Lavelle and Ricky Burgess, council’s only black members, introduced a resolution that would create the Greater Pittsburgh Covid-19 Racial Equity Task Force. Council is expected to vote on the measure in coming weeks.

“The purpose of the Greater Pittsburgh Covid-19 Racial Equity Task Force is to integrate health and social equity into the Covid-19 response and its aftermath here in the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County,” the resolution reads.

The task force would include black elected officials, university representatives, residents and other officials from the city and Allegheny County, according to the resolution. It will serve as a subcommittee of the Pittsburgh Commission on Racial Equity.

Burgess said members would analyze information on how the coronavirus is impacting neighborhoods in Pittsburgh and determine the needs of residents. Coronavirus cases in Pittsburgh’s black neighborhoods are less than in denser communities such as Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, according to Allegheny County Health Department statistics.

Burgess said the numbers could be flawed because of insufficient testing.

He said blacks in other American cities have a disproportionate rate of covid-19 infections. In Pennsylvania, he said, blacks make up 11% of the populations, but account for 21% of covid-19 deaths.

“We believe we need to have more testing in the black community and we also believe we need to coordinate the response during the pandemic and afterward,” he said. “We need to come together as a city and figure out how we’re going to prioritize our covid response to the African-American community. If we don’t do something blacks will suffer disproportionately from this.”

Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, said the administration would work with Burgess and Lavelle on developing the proposal.