Special to the Times
After a drawn-out drafting process, the Ohio Department of Health’s top spokeswoman agreed to stamp ODH’s name on a statement with the Ohio NAACP and Commission on Minority Health correcting a myth that racial minorities are less susceptible to COVID-19.
However, communications director Arundi Venkayya clarified in an April 1, 2020 email that ODH would not send out the statement independently because the department is instead focused on the “direct operational response” to the nascent pandemic.
She said CMH could release the statement on its own.
Chip Allen, ODH’s director of health equity who worked to craft the statement with the NAACP and CMH, warned the refusal would send the wrong message. Angela Dawson, CMH’s executive director, said she was concerned as well why would ODH authorize a statement but withhold it from its established networks and unique authority on Ohio’s pandemic response?