Latest stats show virus preys heavily on poverty
Last week, Toronto Public Health provided an update on the socio-economic data for COVID-19 cases in our city. The data tells a story of two very difference experiences of the pandemic — one for the privileged and one for everyone else.
> 83 per cent. That’s the portion of COVID-19 cases involving racialized Torontonians, even though people who identify with a racialized group only make up about half (52 per cent) of our city’s population.
> 51 per cent. That’s the percentage of COVID-19 cases involving people living below the low-income threshold — even though only 30 per cent of residents in our city are categorized as lowincome.
These are deeply disturbing numbers. Whether you get COVID-19 or not shouldn’t depend on how much money you make, or the colour of your skin, or what neighbourhood you live in. But the data shows that it does.
Toronto Public Health started collecting this data in May to see if some groups were more affected by the virus than others. The initial analysis shows what public health experts have long known: that COVID-19, like many other diseases, preys on the poverty, discrimination and systemic barriers that persist in our city.
This virus didn’t create these racial and economic disparities, but it has exposed them. Our Toronto Public Health data on COVID-19 cases shows that some ethno-racial groups are especially overrepresented, including Black people, South Asian or Indo-Caribbean people, Southeast Asian people, Arab, Middle Eastern, or West Asian people, and Latin American people.
At the same time, more than a quarter of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 live in households with five or more people, which may be overcrowded or have limited space to selfisolate without transmitting the virus to family members.
This data should represent a wake-up call for all of us who call Toronto home. If we are truly all in this together — as the slogans keep reminding us — we can’t let this injustice continue.
As we prepare for the possibility of future outbreaks and a second wave, with this data now in hand, there are no excuses. We know that people who live in poverty, in overcrowded homes, and people who are not white, are at greater risk. We know that people working in front-line or precarious jobs are vulnerable, and some, like agricultural workers, are in need of additional protections. Our task is to protect them.
Toronto has been given the green light to move to Stage 3, but the data shows that as we proceed there are still actions we need to take.
We need more focused testing options. We need to create voluntary selfisolation facilities, so people who live in crowded homes can have a place to selfisolate without the risk of infecting their family. And we need to work directly with community organizations and neighbourhood leaders, to proactively tailor our outreach and prevention programs to support them.
These actions are not only the just thing to do, but they will help slow the spread of the virus and take the burden off our medical system. But they’re not enough. What we need is to change the landscape that allowed this grossly unequal experience of the pandemic to occur. We need fundamental, long-term policy changes that tackle poverty, invest in communities, and confront structural racism.
We need to address the income gap between neighbourhoods. We need to protect our precarious and front-line workers, and make sure everyone has access to the health services they need.
These problems are complex, and they require collaboration from all three levels of government. But it is our duty, when we are presented with this kind of information, to make these fundamental inequities a thing of the past. It’s the only way we will keep our city, our neighbours, and our loved ones, safe. It’s truly a matter of life and death.
The data on COVID-19 cases in Toronto provides a road map for how we can defeat this virus — and build a new, healthier and better normal. It’s up to us to follow it.