Last week, Senator Sal DiDomenico announced that the Massachusetts Senate has passed bipartisan legislation to promote equity and transparency as the Commonwealth continues to confront the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bill, An Act Addressing COVID-19 Data Collection and Disparities in Treatment, would increase the amount of statewide, publicly available data as it relates to the coronavirus, and establish a task force to study and make policy recommendations to address health disparities for underserved and underrepresented communities, including gateway cities like Chelsea and Everett.
“These reporting requirements are critical to ensuring we have a full and up-to-date understanding of the pandemic’s impact on our communities, and the inequities that exist across our Commonwealth,” said DiDomenico. “Our district has been especially hard hit by COVID-19, and any additional information that we have at our disposal will be key to tailoring our response to this pandemic. These new reporting requirements will also help to determine our long-term recovery efforts and inform our ongoing work to address systemic inequities in our healthcare and safety-net systems. I am pleased that the Senate has taken action to implement strong data collection and reporting requirements, and it is my hope that this bill makes it to the Governor’s desk in the very near future.” Continue reading “Senate passes bill to collect vital public health data, establish statewide Covid-19 crisis task force”
