People with low income, those in remote communities face higher COVID-19 risk: Manitoba study

A new peer-reviewed study focused on Manitoba confirms what many public health experts have believed for months — those who live in remote northern regions, survive on a low income or live in long-term care facilities are the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

The University of Manitoba-led study, published in the October issue of the journal The Lancet Regional Health: Americas, suggests that the people most at risk from the disease are more vulnerable because of inadequate testing, increased case numbers in close proximity and an elevated risk of severe outcomes.

The population-based study used data from all lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba from March 2020 to May 2021. All of the data came from the clinical and administrative registries and databases of Manitoba Health, and looked at infections based on sex, neighbourhood average income and health region of residence.

One of the most jarring findings suggests that the risk of contracting COVID-19 for people in the lowest income bracket was 1.3 to six times the risk for those in the highest income bracket.

Income level also had a big impact on the severity of infections, the data suggests, with patients from lower income neighbourhoods more likely to end up in intensive care, for example.

That's likely due to a combination of factors for lower-income people, including crowded housing and continuing to perform essential front-line work in close proximity to other people, the study says.

Another likely factor was barriers to health-care, including the remoteness of the north, a lack of local health-care infrastructure and systemic racism that disadvantages both Indigenous and migrant groups in Canada, it says.