Coronavirus outbreak: Toronto to ask those testing positive COVID-19 to provide race, income information

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, said on Tuesday that public health officials will start asking those who test positive for COVID-19 to provide information on their race, income, household size, Indigenous identity or First Nations status after emerging evidence from other jurisdictions suggesting that COVID-19 may impact some groups more than others. Dr. De Villa added that her team has conducted analysis which suggests similar trends in Toronto, showing that people living in lower-income neighborhoods, in neighborhoods with a high proportion of recent immigrants, and areas with high unemployment rates had higher rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.