LANSING, Mich. — Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist released a new report from the Michigan COVID-19 Racial Disparities Task Force on Monday. The report detailed efforts from the task force to respond to the COVID-19 racial disparities, improve access to healthcare in vulnerable communities and communities of color, and save lives.
The Michigan COVID-19 Racial Disparities Task Force was established in April 2020. The task force brought together a wide variety of leaders from government, academia, health care, economics, public health, epidemiology, education, and the private sector. Their goal is to address racial health disparities in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Lt. Governor Gilchrist is the chair of the task force.
The task force worked at setting up community testing, mask distribution, and vaccination sites in high-need areas, improving data collection and analysis, and boosting access to telehealth, health insurance, and mobile health clinics in vulnerable communities. They also worked to improve access to health care for Black and Brown children in schools, and people with sickle cell disease and reinforced maternal and infant healthcare.
In 2020, Black Michiganders saw COVID-19 death rates of 22.8 per 10,000 people, which was significantly above the national death rate of 15 per 10,000 people. Following the work of the task force, the COVID-19 death rates for Black Michiganders dropped to 16.2 per 10,000 people in 2021, and to 8.6 per 10,000 in 2022. The task force was later awarded the Meeting the Moment for Public Health Award from Research America.
“The creation of the Michigan Coronavirus Racial Disparities Task Force and the recommendations made by this diverse group have been instrumental in the work we do and has informed many of the outreach efforts conducted by the state and our public health partners,” said Michigan’s Chief Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian. “The task force’s commitment and dedication to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and improving the lives of people in at-risk communities is inspiring. We look forward to continuing this work as we move forward through the creation of community zones and a neighborhood health grant to strengthen our communities as outlines in the governor’s FY 2024 budget.”
“The members of the Coronavirus Racial Disparities Task Force stepped up for their communities to protect Michiganders and save lives,” said Hon. Thomas Stallworth III, director of the Michigan Coronavirus Racial Disparities Task Force. “Now, we must build on the progress we’ve made and double down on our efforts to eliminate racial disparities impacting the health of communities across our state.”
“When we saw that COVID-19 was uniquely lethal in communities of color in Michigan, Governor Whitmer and I knew we had to act quickly,” said Lt. Governor Gilchrist. “We responded to these disturbing racial disparities with an innovative approach that put Michiganders first and set a national example for other states and the federal government to follow. We outperformed the nation in addressing racial disparities, saved lives, and collaborated with other states to share what we learned. As someone who lost people in my own life to COVID-19, I am incredibly grateful to the members of the Task Force for their tireless work under pressure and their commitment to Michigan communities. We will keep working hard to build healthy, equitable, prosperous communities where everyone can thrive.”