A disproportionate number of African-Americans are dying from coronavirus in Houston, data from the Houston Health Department has shown, leading to a new effort to address these disparities.

The city of Houston established a task force of city, community and health care system representatives April 23 to coordinate an outreach campaign that provides public health education, masks and supplies for the city’s under-served communities. A Health Equity Response Fund was also established to collect donations for the efforts.

As of April 23, 50% of those who have died in Houston were African-American despite the fact that African Americans make up only 20% of the city’s overall population.

“Houston is the most diverse city in the country, and we need to make sure we touch the needs of as many communities as possible,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said at an April 23 press conference.

The City of Houston Health Department published a coronavirus case map broken up by the city's super neighborhoods in mid-April, showing higher rates in the south and northeast areas of the city.