Race a COVID risk factor

Non-whites in city at greater risk, stats show

Being non-white in Ottawa means you are at higher risk of COVID-19, according to new data from Ottawa Public Health.

“People talk about, `We are in this all together.' We are not in this all together. The risk that is faced by racialized populations is disproportionate,” Hindia Mohamoud, director of the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP), told a joint news conference with Ottawa Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches and community groups.

Ottawa Public Health released figures Tuesday that show disproportionate numbers of COVID-19 infections among the city's nonwhite communities, especially among those who identify as Black. Among the findings:

■ Non-whites make up 29 per cent of Ottawa's population, but accounted for 63 per cent of identified COVID-19 cases until the end of August.

■ People who identify as Black make up seven per cent of the population, but have accounted for 37 per cent of COVID-19 diagnoses.

■ People who identify as white make up 71 per cent of the city's population but have accounted for 33 per cent of people diagnosed with COVID-19.

Women are more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 than men across all groups. Younger people (under 30) are more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ottawa if they are not white. And racialized people diagnosed with COVID-19 are three times as likely to work in health care as those diagnosed who are white.

During the news conference, Etches and those who work with recent immigrant and racialized communities said the pandemic has highlighted existing challenges such as poverty, precarious and risky work, crowded housing and lack of equitable access to health care in those communities.

“Prior to COVID, many immigrants and racialized communities have lived with low income and crowded housing. They have less access to green space and are working in jobs that expose them to health risks and exploitations,” said Andrea Gardner, associate executive director of Jewish Family Services and co-chair of OLIP's Health and Wellbeing Sector Table.

“In the context of COVID, disproportionate rates of infection mean that these work and life conditions have become a matter of life and death.”

A large proportion of personal support workers and other frontline workers are recent immigrants. And those workers have significantly higher COVID-19 infection rates than the general population across Canada. During the first half of the pandemic, nearly one in five cases of COVID-19 in Canada were among health-care workers.

“While many of us work remotely, they are not afforded that safety,” Mohamoud said.

Recent immigrants and racialized residents are also more likely to face more risks when it comes to other jobs, taking public transit and living in crowded conditions. Many don't have family doctors and have more difficulty getting tested.

“The pandemic has amplified the lack of affordable housing and access to basic human needs such as food,” said Naini Cloutier, ex

The pandemic has amplified the lack of affordable housing and access to basic human needs

ecutive director of Somerset West Community Health Centre.

Representatives of the Ottawa Health Team have tried to reach people in need of additional support during the pandemic. Health and social agencies have distributed masks, hand sanitizers, food and information about testing, she said.

Among families in desperate need of help were a family in which the mother was in hospital with COVID-19 leaving the father struggling to care for a newborn, who was still nursing, and two young children with few resources.

Etches said Ottawa's relatively high average income compared to other cities might be one reason the city has kept case numbers down after a surge in October.

“There is no question we have some advantages in Ottawa. But those advantages are not spread out universally.”