Open AccessCovid-19 outbreak reflects inequities in health and socioeconomic disadvantage in Aotearoa/New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
Author(s) -
Colin Tukuitonga,
Alec Ekeroma
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pacific health dialog
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2422-8656
pISSN - 1015-7867
DOI - 10.26635/phd.2021.124
Subject(s) - aotearoa , covid-19 , socioeconomic status , outbreak , indigenous , pandemic , disadvantage , geography , pacific islanders , socioeconomics , disease , medicine , political science , environmental health , sociology , gender studies , population , virology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , ecology , pathology , law , biology
The Covid-19 outbreak in Aotearoa/New Zealand is a timely reminder of the chronic inequities in health and the importance of socioeconomic factors in the origins of the disease. The pandemic has affected mainly indigenous Maori and Pacific people. There were 5,371 confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 as at 13 November 2021, of which 2,104 (39%) were in Maori and 1,646 (31%) were in Pacific people. Furthermore, 228 (70%) of all hospital admissions were Maori and Pacific people