The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has led the city of Jamestown, Chautauqua County and Jamestown Public Schools to create a pandemic task force.

On Thursday, Eddie Sundquist, Jamestown mayor, told The Post-Journal that the county Health and Human Services and Emergency Services departments, city officials and Jamestown Superintendent Bret Apthorpe have collaborated to form the task force.

Sundquist said the newly created group doesn’t have a name and its members have yet to be selected. He said the idea for the task force was created when Apthorpe was creating a plan for the school district and reached out to city officials about coordinating services Sundquist added from there more organizations were contacted, including the county departments.

“The task force is still being put together,” Sundquist said. “We have now started coordinating with the Governor’s (Andrew Cuomo) office in regards to response, along with the county and schools. We want to make sure city residents are covered in case there is an incident here. It’s important that we coordinate our efforts.”

Sundquist said the creation of the pandemic task force was a local initiative. He said the task force is now “looped in” with the governor’s office, who provides daily briefs on the virus. He added that through the governor’s office, Chautauqua County is coordinating with other counties in Western New York to respond if there is an incident.

Sundquist said the task force was created because of the coronavirus, which to date has infected nearly 97,000 people and killed more than 3,300. However, he said the task force will remain intact even after the coronavirus outbreak has ended.

“It can be for any pandemic or issue that pops up,” he said. “I think the point is to gather people together to know the resources available. The county is the main point of contact for any pandemic issues, but I wanted the city to be ready to share services and address issues as they come up.”

Sundquist said the pandemic task force is different than the county disaster reaction plan.

“When it comes to a pandemic, there is a much different response than reacting to an earthquake or terrorist attack,” Sundquist said. “We need to be all on the same page and to be able to respond adequately.”