The City of Delta is supporting New Westminster’s call for the provincial and federal ministers of health to collect disaggregated COVID-19 data, including race, socioeconomic class and disability.
In a recent letter to Delta council, New Westminster Mayor Johnathon Cote said his council had endorsed making such a resolution, noting B.C. and Canada do not capture race-based or socioeconomic data, which effectively buries the impact of illness and disease on disproportionately impacted groups within the larger aggregated data, erasing opportunities to address health inequities.
The New West motion notes racialized communities and advocates have been requesting that the province collect disaggregated data.
Delta council endorsed the motion which also states it's “clear from other jurisdictions, including the United States, that the COVID-19 pandemic and other health concerns disproportionately impact racialized community members and those with who experience systemic, marginalizing barriers to healthcare access as well as precarious work.”
Meanwhile, Delta council also recently reiterated its call for the provincial government that all city-specific numbers, including Delta, be released.
Mayor George Harvie noted they are not looking for individual names and addresses, so there’s no privacy issues that should be a concern.
Fraser Health and other health authorities recently launched web pages listing recent public exposure events in response to a surge in new cases in recent weeks.
The FHA site can be found here: https://www.fraserhealth.ca/covid19exposure#.XyM-nBJlCpr
