Hamilton's race-based COVID-19 data won't be public until at least September
The city only began to consider collecting the data at the start of May after calls from local experts
Hamilton Public Health Services will not release COVID-19 data related to race and socioeconomic status until at least September.
Jacqueline Durlov, a communications officer with the city, told CBC News that public health is "continuing to collect race-based data and [is] currently in the process of analyzing the data and putting together a plan to release publicly as soon as possible" — but it will take at least two months. This comes despite the city quickly releasing information on categories like gender and age, which have been tracked from the start.
"The data has to be gathered, aggregated, and reported on," Durlov said.
"This information has to be brought to [the] board of health as well as [city] council. The time is needed to do and present the work appropriately. Public Health reports to [the] board of health, board of health to city council. Every report that goes to city council goes to a committee before going to council. It's standard practice for every department and committee."
Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said during a Friday media briefing that public health is focused on looking at larger patterns of infection and issuing a report, which explains why the data isn't being shared the way gender and age are. She also noted the responses aren't always consistent.
"We are finding that some people are more comfortable answering one or another of the questions and so for any given question, the response rate isn't always that high and in terms of getting numbers that are meaningful for us to do data analysis with is taking some time," she explained.
Richardson also noted public health is considering going back to people previously infected by the virus for race and socioeconomic data, but needs to consult with the province.
On Tuesday, she acknowledged "a differentiation in terms of lower income groups" and people of colour in the United States and Ontario.
"We started collecting information on that a couple weeks ago, and as our case numbers get lower, it gets harder to understand trends. But we're still gathering the data over time to look at that."
Local Black leaders 'disappointed' by wait time
The city only began to consider collecting the data at the start of May after experts and advocates warned marginalized communities could be disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
"We could not get there earlier, and we didn't want to end up doing things twice," Richardson explained.
She added that she is confident the "small number of cases" will be able to offer a trend but for now, the preliminary information isn't enough "to draw conclusions from."
Evelyn Myrie, president of the Afro Canadian Caribbean Association, was "surprised" to hear it will take months to find out if the pandemic is creating racial and socioeconomic disparities seen in other parts of the world.
"I'm really disappointed they're going to take that long to relay race-based data, even though it's critical to developing an appropriate response to this health crisis … Why the bureaucratic delay?" she said.
"It's really important to have that data, and the sooner the better, not when it's too late to do anything about it."
Kojo Damptey, executive director at the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI), agreed waiting until September was too long.
He said he has been meeting with public health every other week to form an equity data community advisory group. Ideally, Damptey said, the group would consist of experts, like Ameil Joseph, McMaster doctors and Black community members with lived experience. They would help facilitate how the data is being collected.
So far, Damptey said, the conversations have revolved around what questions are being asked, what racial or ethnic categories are included, and who owns the data. But, he adds, the group doesn't exist yet.
The news of the data's projected release also comes in the middle of a modern civil rights movement to eliminate structural and systemic, anti-Black racism.
WATCH | Why race matters during the COVID-19 pandemic
Some Hamilton pools and waterfalls open soon
Some city pools are opening on Monday. Local waterfalls — except Tew's Falls, Webster Falls and Dundas Peak — will reopen on July 15.
Six Hamilton Public Library branches will also open for takeout service on July 14. Those are Ancaster, Sherwood, Kenilworth, Saltfleet, Turner Park and Waterdown.
Paul Johnson, director of the city's emergency operations centre, also noted about 90 child-care centres will be open by the end of next week.
While restrictions continue to loosen, Johnson complained about "increased reports" of people removing the signs and caution tape from playgrounds, which are still not open for use.
Also, anyone who needs a mask to ride on HSR transit can pick one up at 36 Hunter Street.
One new COVID-19 case in Hamilton
There are 47 active COVID-19 cases in Hamilton as of Friday morning. A total of 843 cases have been reported, one up from the total number Thursday.
Of those, 835 are confirmed and eight considered probable. The virus has killed 44 people, 752 (89 per cent) have recovered and three people are in hospital.
There are no outbreaks in Hamilton.
Brant
Just one person in Brant/Brantford continues to have COVID-19 and they are currently not in hospital.
The total there has also remained the same since Tuesday, at 122. Of those, 117 people have recovered and four have died.
Haldimand-Norfolk
There are 141 active cases of COVID-19 in Haldimand-Norfolk. That's down from 152 on Thursday.
There have been a total of 444 cases, of which 271 have recovered and 32 have died.
Halton
There are 56 active cases in the Halton region. There were four new confirmed cases, bringing the total number to 843. Of those, 81 are probable and 762 are confirmed.
The virus has killed 25 people and 762 have recovered.
In Burlington, 11 people have the virus right now, unchanged since Tuesday. The city has seen 172 cases (153 confirmed, 19 probable), of which 154 recovered and seven died.
Niagara
In the Niagara region, 29 people still have COVID-19. There are 762 total cases, up two from Thursday.
Sixty-one people have died, while 672 have recovered.
There are outbreaks at Crescent Park Lodge in Fort Erie and Garden City Manor in St. Catharines.
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