Inquiry into coronavirus nursing home deaths needs to include discussion of workers and race
Inquiry into coronavirus nursing home deaths needs to include discussion of workers and race
By Tania Das Gupta
Professor, Department of Equity Studies, York University, Canada
COVID-19 has most severely affected elderly residents and their caregivers in long-term care nursing homes. In Ontario, coronavirus has claimed the lives of well over 1,400 people, both residents and caregivers, in the long-term care system. Although many issues have been discussed in relation to this crisis in long-term care, one crucial factor has not been discussed as much: the issue of race.
Why is race important here? Nursing homes and long-term care in Canada are predominantly staffed by immigrant women, migrants and refugees — mostly women of colour. In Montréal, up to 80 per cent of the workers in long-term care are racialized women.
Many of us have recently learned that long-term care homes are increasingly funded by the private sector animated by profit-making. This business model has created challenging conditions within which COVID-19 and other infections rapidly spread.
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