Covid 19 coronavirus: Maori and pasifika inequalities ‘leading’ factor in Auckland cluster’s doubled hospital rates

Patients in the Auckland group are being hospitalized at twice the rate of other Covid-19 cases in New Zealand, and its specific impact on Maori and Pasifika is likely a major factor.

A Herald analysis found that 18 of the 152 cases in the group have resulted in hospitalization, about 12 percent of the cases so far.

Out of the group, 5.8 percent of the patients have been hospitalized: 93 out of 1609.

There are still almost 73 active cases in the group, which could mean that more patients may require hospital care.

The difference in the need for treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) is even more marked.

So far, five patients in the group have needed ICU treatment, compared with 10 other Covid-19 patients.

That means 3.3 percent of the patients in the group have needed ICU treatment, compared to 0.6 percent for all other cases.

When ICU treatment was considered as a fraction of hospitalizations, 27 percent of Auckland group hospitalizations have required that level of care, compared to just 10 percent of the rest of Covid- 19 from New Zealand.

The Ministry of Health has yet to provide a full breakdown of the ethnicities of those in the group who have been hospitalized.

But 61 percent of the cases in the group are known to be among ethnic Pacific people and 21 percent among Maori.

Outside the group, only 5% of cases have occurred among Pacific peoples and 8% among Maori.

Today, Chief Health Officer Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said the cases in the latter group were comparatively older than the cases at the beginning of the year.

But he added that the predominant ethnicities were Maori and Pasifika, groups that tended to have higher rates of pre-existing conditions and higher rates of hospitalization.

“That will be an important contribution.”

University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Nick Wilson agreed that the ethnic makeup of the group partly accounted for the additional hospitalizations.

“The first outbreak in New Zealand mainly affected the youngest returning travelers – the average age group was 20-29 years old,” he said.

“They had very low levels of chronic disease and of course they are protected because they are young.”

It comes after a study by Te Punaha Matatini modelers, published in today’s New Zealand Medical Journal, found that Maori were 50 percent more likely to die from Covid-19 than Pākehā.

The researchers highlighted factors such as Maori living with more multiple underlying health conditions and structural handicaps that pushed up hospitalization rates.

Maori were also at increased risk of exposure due to increased participation in high-risk occupations and environments and wider social networks.

Study co-author and University of Canterbury mathematics professor Michael Plank said the trends were “extremely sobering, but unfortunately not surprising.”

“Covid-19 produces a very broad spectrum of results, from very mild symptoms to death,” he said.

“Evidence now shows that Maori and Pasifika are at increased risk of more severe illness from Covid-19 across this spectrum.”

Bloomfield said this was one of the key factors in the ministry’s decision-making on the response to the first outbreak earlier this year.

This is a “known issue” and has been identified through the Health and Disability System Review, he said, and the industry is now working to fix it.