Health officials should be collecting data about the ethnicity of people being tested for COVID-19 to help get on top of outbreaks, according to a leading sociologist.

UTS Professor of Sociology Andrew Jakubowicz says that the current outbreak in Sydney could have been handled better if data collection on infected people’s ethnicity was part of health protocols.

“If we had known the ethnicity and language of the first COVID carrier in the current outbreak — an unvaccinated driver who had been contracted to ferry infected flight crew to quarantine — it would have allowed health officials to focus on his ethnic networks and ensure appropriate languages and messaging were used,” Prof Jakubowicz wrote.

“However, his testing did not apparently collect ethnicity, country of birth, or language spoken at home other than English. And by the time his positive test came back, the virus was off and running,” he said.

“The jump from Bondi Junction to Hoxton Park then allowed the virus to enter a rich milieu of cultural diversity comprising many languages, dialects, cultures, and health literacy levels. The density of living arrangements, interactions among extended families, and poor quality of COVID messages in community languages contributed to the spread,” Prof Jakubowicz said.

He said that in the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada, it is well known that COVID disproportionately affects people of colour from cultural minorities.

But in Australia although much is known about how COVID is affecting Indigenous people, there is little clarity about other ethnic groups in the wider Australian society.

“The cultural geography of Sydney makes clear why different strategies are important. Rates of vaccination, especially among the elderly, are much higher in the east and much lower in the west, reflecting health literacy, economic resources, education and power,’ Prof Jakubowicz said.

“The west of Sydney houses a much more extensive population of vulnerable people, many of whom are health care, aged care and disability workers. Extended families living in overcrowded housing are also at a higher risk of infection,” he said.

“Moreover, there is a growing sense of inequity, with many in the west believing they have been selected for undeserved “punishment”, while the east still wanders around enjoying the winter sunshine.” Prof Jakubowicz said.

He said there were concerns that people supplying information about their cultural background could be targeted or discriminated against.

“But people do have to provide this information when being vaccinated and it’s collected from every infected patient. Multicultural leaders support also support the collection of this data, provided there are assurances it is used sensitively,” Prof Jakubowicz said.

“It’s clear this lack of data has hampered NSW’s ability to reach vulnerable communities and tailor messages that may be more effective in three ways – staying COVID safe, getting COVID tested, and getting vaccinated where this is possible,” he said.

Prof Jakubowicz said that over the past year there has been commentary criticising the lack of clear strategies to ensure the safety and engagement of multicultural communities.

He said that work to engage multicultural communities had been caught up in multiple levels of responsibility, data collection, and ethical constraints.

“But as the virus spreads, there are clear social measures we have chosen not to use. In order to support people effectively, craft appropriate messaging and predict transmission pathways, it is crucial to use the languages, cultures and local networks that bind these communities together,” Prof Jakobuwicz said.

Read more here:
https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-collect-ethnicity-data-during-covid-testing-if-were-to-get-on-top-of-sydneys-outbreak-164783