Data shows people from poor neighbourhoods had greatest number of COVID-related ER visits

New data further illustrates COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on the poor.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information says residents of Canada’s least affluent neighbourhoods had the greatest number and percentage of COVID-19 hospitalizations and emergency department visits as of Aug. 31.

Researchers looked at COVID-19 hospitalizations in Canada excluding Quebec between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2020.

They found 29.2 percent involved those living in the country’s least affluent neighbourhoods, while 12.9 percent involved those living in the most affluent neighbourhoods.

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The in-hospital death rate was 21 percent for patients who lived in poorer areas, compared with 18 percent for those in the most well-off areas.

Patients who died in hospital had a median age of 81.

CIHI says there were more than 8,100 hospital stays for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from January to August 2020.

During the same period, there were more than 48,600 ER visits and 21 percent of those patients were admitted to the hospital.

The in-hospital death rate was 19 percent for females and 21 percent for males.

Public health officials have said the novel coronavirus has hit lower-income groups and minorities harder than the rest of the population.