Disproportionate Rates of COVID-19 Among Black Canadian Communities: Lessons from a Cross-Sectional Study in the First Year of the Pandemic

Upton D Allen; Michelle Barton; Julia Upton; Annette Bailey; Aaron Campigotto; Mariana Abdulnoor; Jean-Philippe Julien; Jonathan Gubbay; Niranjan Kissoon; Alice Litosh; Maria-Rosa La Neve; Peter Wong; Andrew Allen; Renee Bailey; Walter Byrne; Ranjeeta Jagoowani; Chantal Phillips; Manuela Merreles-Pulcini; Alicia Polack; Cheryl Prescod; Arjumand Siddiqi; Alexander Summers; Kimberly Thompson; Sylvanus Thompson; Carl James; seroMARK Research Group

doi:10.1007/s40615-023-01903-z

Disproportionate Rates of COVID-19 Among Black Canadian Communities: Lessons from a Cross-Sectional Study in the First Year of the Pandemic

J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2024 Jan 22. doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01903-z. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Upton D Allen¹, Michelle Barton², Julia Upton³, Annette Bailey⁴, Aaron Campigotto⁵, Mariana Abdulnoor⁶, Jean-Philippe Julien⁷, Jonathan Gubbay⁸, Niranjan Kissoon⁹, Alice Litosh⁶, Maria-Rosa La Neve⁶, Peter Wong¹⁰, Andrew Allen⁶, Renee Bailey⁴, Walter Byrne⁶, Ranjeeta Jagoowani⁶, Chantal Phillips⁶, Manuela Merreles-Pulcini⁶, Alicia Polack⁶, Cheryl Prescod¹¹, Arjumand Siddiqi¹², Alexander Summers¹³, Kimberly Thompson⁶, Sylvanus Thompson¹⁴, Carl James¹⁵; seroMARK Research Group

Collaborators

seroMARK Research Group:
Pamela Appelt, Mark Awuku, Paul Bailey, Janet Collins, Liben Gebremikael, Jenny Gumb, Tesfai Mengesha, Adaoma Patterson, Cheryl Prescod, Noelle Richardson, Sylvanus Thompson, Nicole Welch

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada. upton.allen@sickkids.ca.
² Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, London Health Sciences Centre, London, ON, Canada.
³ Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Division of Microbiology, Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, M5G 1X8, Canada.
⁷ Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁸ Public Health Ontario, Toronto, Canada.
⁹ Department of Paediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹¹ Black Creek Community Health Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
¹³ Middlesex-London Health Unit, London, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ Toronto Public Health Unit, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁵ York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 38253978
DOI: 10.1007/s40615-023-01903-z

Abstract

Background: Racialized communities, including Black Canadians, have disproportionately higher COVID-19 cases. We examined the extent to which SARS-CoV-2 infection has affected the Black Canadian community and the factors associated with the infection.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in an area of Ontario (northwest Toronto/Peel Region) with a high proportion of Black residents along with 2 areas that have lower proportions of Black residents (Oakville and London, Ontario). SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies were determined using the EUROIMMUN assay. The study was conducted between August 15, 2020, and December 15, 2020.

Results: Among 387 evaluable subjects, the majority, 273 (70.5%), were enrolled from northwest Toronto and adjoining suburban areas of Peel, Ontario. The seropositivity values for Oakville and London were comparable (3.3% (2/60; 95% CI 0.4-11.5) and 3.9% (2/51; 95% CI 0.5-13.5), respectively). Relative to these areas, the seropositivity was higher for the northwest Toronto/Peel area at 12.1% (33/273), relative risk (RR) 3.35 (1.22-9.25). Persons 19 years of age or less had the highest seropositivity (10/50; 20.0%, 95% CI 10.3-33.7%), RR 2.27 (1.23-3.59). There was a trend for an interaction effect between race and location of residence as this relates to the relative risk of seropositivity.

Interpretation: During the early phases of the pandemic, the seropositivity within a COVID-19 high-prevalence zone was threefold greater than lower prevalence areas of Ontario. Black individuals were among those with the highest seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: Black residents; COVID-19; Polymerase chain reaction.