Over a quarter of Toronto coronavirus deaths occurred in the northwest

More than a quarter of Toronto coronavirus deaths in the community have occurred in the hard-hit northwest corner of the city, according to new data released Friday by Toronto Public Health.

The new statistics highlight how the city’s deep social and economic disparities have consequences for life and death.

COVID-19 “highlighted the glaring inequalities and systemic racism that everyone can see,” said Tesfai Mengesha, co-executive director of Success Beyond Limits, a community group in the Jane-Finch area.

“The reason we got to this point is the constant structural neglect.

“The question now is: are we going to do something about it, or are we going to continue to let people die?” “

New detailed and case-specific data include deaths, hospitalizations and source of infection, all of which paint a picture of two Torontos.

The data builds on neighborhood level data, Toronto Public Health, first released in May, which clearly showed that the northwest corner was the most affected by the pandemic.

The latest figures show that the infection rate is highest in 17 neighborhoods in the northwest, roughly wedged between Dufferin Street and Route 427 in the west, going south from Steeles Avenue to Eglinton West.

Excluding cases of epidemics in institutions such as shelters, nursing homes and prisons, there were 221 deaths from COVID-19 in Toronto.

Fifty-eight of them, or 26%, were people who lived in these hard-hit neighborhoods in the northwest.

But this district is only home to 12% of the city’s population.

This produces a COVID death rate in these northwest neighborhoods almost three times higher than the rest of the city.

The infection rate in the northwest is almost four times higher than in the rest of the city (932 cases per 100,000 inhabitants compared to 238 cases per 100,000 inhabitants).

“It really shows the social determinants of health,” said Kemi Jacobs, executive director of the Delta Family Resource Center, which has three locations in the northwest.

“The people who are least able to handle the virus are the people who get it,” she said.

Last month’s Star report explored the underlying inequalities in the northwest corner of the city.

The Star found that the areas hardest hit by the virus also have some of the highest concentrations of low-income, racialized residents living in cramped housing while working in high-risk sectors, such as manufacturing.

This corner has always been considered a “primary care wilderness,” with higher than average rates of chronic illnesses like diabetes, the Star reported.

Get more of what matters in your inbox
Start your morning with everything you need to know and nothing you don’t know. Sign up for First Up, the Star’s new daily email newsletter.

Health Minister Christine Elliott promised Thursday to increase access to testing in the northwest corner of Toronto and to partner with other levels of government to create free housing for those who cannot isolate themselves at home due to overcrowding.

The commitment came at the request of the chairman of the Toronto board of health, Councilor Joe Cressy, who sent a letter to Elliott and to the chief medical officer of Ontario, Dr. David Williams, asking the province of take these steps to stop the spread of COVID.

Premier Doug Ford’s constituency of Etobicoke North includes many of these northwest districts.

The new data also reveals a difference in how people contract the virus in different parts of the city.

In the northwest, people were more likely to get the virus through close contact or through community spread, but much less likely to get the virus while traveling.

“We have long said that diseases attack the most vulnerable and COVID has revealed it,” said Cressy. “And the northwest shows the vulnerability gap to a painful extent. “

He said the city believes that the disproportionate exposure in the northwest through close contact is mainly due to overcrowded housing.

“It is people who are homeless and unable to safely isolate themselves at home who are putting their loved ones and roommates in danger,” he said.

The required response is an alert system based on positive laboratory results, to allow Toronto public health to screen higher risk cases for contact tracing and isolate them more quickly to prevent further spread. in the community.

Jacobs of the Delta Family Resource Center said that people are afraid to leave their buildings and that mobile test stations should be brought to them to encourage testing.

Michelle Westin, Senior Planning, Quality and Risk Analyst at the Black Creek Community Health Center, said that health disparity is the result of systemic disparities and that any long-term solution will require the collaboration of many different parties. of the government.

“It is not only health, but housing, education, justice and employment. All of these systems that led to the disparities in the first place, ”she said.

Please share this