COVID-19 is found to impact certain populations more than others – provincially as well as in Simcoe Muskoka. Social determinants of health (SDOH), such as gender, socioeconomic position and race/ethnicity are factors that potentially put people at increased risk and severity of COVID-19 infection. The reasons for this are still emerging but may include:
- Existing health disparities linked to social and economic factors
- Stress and lack of advantage caused by racism and other forms of discrimination
- Challenges in participating in the public health response to COVID-19, including:
- difficulties in limiting COVID-19 exposure because of being an essential worker, and
- difficulties in physical distancing because of overcrowding.
- Inequitable access to health care and social services.
Previous Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) research has shown a higher rate of COVID-19 infection among people living in areas where residents come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and cultures.
Research done in other jurisdictions has also identified factors such as living in low-income areas as having an influence on the impact of COVID-19 illness, however these patterns have not been reflected in our local data.
Voluntary questions on race, language and income are being asked of residents who contract COVID-19, by SMDHU case investigators as of July 21, 2020. Data reported below exclude those who choose not to answer one or more of these questions. Due to the recent increase in cases and the need to streamline case investigations, these questions have been temporarily removed from case interviews as of December 11, 2020.
Summary
- Seniors 80 years of age and older have been disproportionally impacted by the pandemic, having the highest case fatality rate.
- The median age of recovered cases has been decreasing since July (37 years), when compared with the median age from March to June (46 years); however, there has been little change in the median ages of those that were hospitalized or died due to the virus since July.
- Among those under the age of 80 years, more cases occur among males whereas among cases 80 years of age and older, more are female.
- Visible minorities are highly over-represented among confirmed COVID-19 cases in Simcoe Muskoka. Nearly half of all COVID-19 cases in Simcoe Muskoka that have provided information about their race report being a visible minority. In comparison, visible minorities only represent 7% of Simcoe Muskoka’s total population.
- Individuals who report a non-official language (neither English nor French) as their mother tongue represent 10% of the Simcoe Muskoka population. However, 43% of local COVID-19 cases report mother tongues other than English and French.
Unlike other areas in Ontario where COVID-19 cases living in low income are more impacted by the virus, Simcoe Muskoka COVID-19 data shows that those with higher income and those living in areas with less material deprivation (i.e. moderately and well-resourced areas) are more likely to be a COVID-19 case.
COVID-19 Age-Specific Incidence, Case Hospitalization and Case Fatality Rates
Median Age of COVID-19 Cases by Outcome and Time Period
COVID-19 Cases by Sex and Age Group
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COVID-19 Cases by Age Group and Current Status
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COVID-19 Cases by Visible Minority Status, Simcoe Muskoka
COVID-19 Cases by Mother Tongue, Simcoe Muskoka
COVID-19 Cases by Household Income, Simcoe Muskoka
Before race, income or language information was asked of people who were confirmed COVID-19 cases, SMDHU did an analysis by looking at specific geographic areas and the groups of people living within them to determine impacts of COVID-19 on the various sub-populations. This is called an area-based analysis and it describes where people live, but may not reflect the experience of all individuals living in these areas. It serves as a proxy to explain the individual experience.
Interestingly, the findings from the initial area-based analysis and the more recent data collected when confirmed COVID-19 cases were asked for detailed personal and household information are comparable. In both instances, areas with higher ethno-cultural diversity and higher incomes experience higher impacts of COVID-19.
COVID-19 Incidence Rate by Material Deprivation, Area-based Analysis
COVID-19 Incidence Rate by Ethno-Cultural Diversity, Area-based Analysis