VA Health Equity Task Force Program Assists Manassas Families

MANASSAS, VA — City of Manassas staff members, together with local volunteers, have packed more than 5,000 bags with masks and hand sanitizers for families in the city. The supplies, which also include public health materials related to the coronavirus, were donated as part of Virginia's Health Equity Task Force Program’s Pilot Program.

More than 1,000 bags have already been distributed. Local volunteers and city staff will distribute more bags to residents next week. The city is targeting underserved and historically disadvantaged communities in Manassas, many of which have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus crisis.

The state's Health Equity Task Force identified more than 40 localities across the state to receive these materials during the pilot program. The task force used a data-driven approach to select areas in the state that are most in need and where residents are at risk of contracting the coronavirus. Communities were identified using indicators such as chronic diseases, household income, age, disability status and other important health factors.

"Under-resourced communities have disproportionately carried the burden of COVID-19, but collaboration with localities like the city of Manassas highlight Virginia's commitment to local-state partnerships that promote an equitable response and recovery from this deadly disease," Dr. Janice Underwood, chief diversity officer to Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, said Thursday in a statement.

In the first couple of months of the crisis, Manassas far exceeded any other jurisdiction in Northern Virginia in the rate of positive coronavirus cases. The Latino community in Prince William County and across the state has gotten hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus across Virginia.

In Prince William County, Latinos represent 24 percent of the population but more than 50 percent of the hospitalizations for COVID-19. Neighborhoods with low levels of education, high levels of economic distress, inadequate housing and transportation, and large numbers of African American and Latino residents without health insurance are seeing higher rates of coronavirus cases.

To date, the state has partnered with 35 localities. City officials in 19 localities have completed a health equity and public safety training and begun distributing resources within their communities, while the others are in the planning phase of the pilot program and set to begin distribution in the upcoming weeks.

More than 500,000 cloth masks and 420,000 bottles of hand sanitizer have been delivered to localities across the state.

“This program supports the city’s efforts to equitably distribute lifesaving PPE to communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19," Virginia Department of Emergency Management State Coordinator Curtis Brown said.

The Health Equity Leadership Task Force provides leadership to the Unified Command Health Equity Work Group, which was formed at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Virginia. The working group is the first ever in Virginia’s history to ensure a health equity lens is applied during an emergency response.

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• Coronanvirus Disproportionately Affecting NoVA's Latino Residents