TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Office of Equity to establish a policy requiring a health equity lens statement on all staff reports related to COVID-19 impacts and response.
Further, request the Office of Equity to train the Joint Information Center on utilization of the Long Beach Equity Toolkit.
DISCUSSION
The Problem
On March 4th, 2020, the City of Long Beach declared an emergency in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Between March 9thand April 17th, the City's number of confirmed cases has grown to 406, with 18 of those total cases resulting in fatalities.
On April 13th, Long Beach released demographic data on confirmed cases of COVID-19. An emergent trend in the data indicates a disproportionately large health impact on people of color, and in particular, African Americans who account for 16.8% of the City's cases and 21% of the hospitalizations, exceeding the 12.9% share of the City's population.
RacelEthnlcity + Cases %* Hospitalized % LB POD %
Hisoanic/Latino 35.2 33.75 42.5
White 26.7 22.5 28.1
African American 14.3 21.25 12.9
Asian 15.2 13.75 13.1
Other 8.6 8.75 NJA
*Race/ethnlcity data were available for 61% of those with a positive diagnosis. The percentages are of the 187 cases where data were available.
These statistics corroborate racial impact data from the County, as well across the country where Black people in Milwaukee, Louisiana, and Chicago have represented up to 70% ofCOVID-19 related deaths in certain jurisdictions.
Most recently, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supported Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Ayana Pressley's call for an emphasis on racial equity in the response to COVID-19. The ACLU also urged Governor Gavin Newsom to require the state and local governments to collect comprehensive racial and ethnic data to ensure an accurate understanding of the COVID-19 impact.
While all communities are impacte...
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