Page - 404 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

VULNERABLE404 to die from COVID-19 than white people. This increased risk of death has been attributed in the U.S. to “[s]tructural factors including health care access, density of households, unemployment, pervasive discrim- ination and others”47 but data in the U.K. also show that the differ- ence may not be caused by pre-existing differences in wealth, health, education or living arrangements.48 Responses to the pandemic must consider how racialized communities experience the pandemic differ- ently, whether they are Asian, Black, Indigenous, or Latinx. Further, pandemic plans should include strategies to reduce the fear that nec- essarily comes with the virus, which can stimulate racism, xenopho- bia, stereotyping, and stigmatization. While partial border closures are one line of defence, policy- makers should contemplate the impact this and other kinds of restric- tions will have on certain populations. A gender-based plus analysis, including a race-based analysis, needs to be undertaken when a par- ticular measure is being considered, especially given the history of how infectious diseases have stigmatized racialized persons and how historical border restrictions can shape racist narratives. While there has been a condemnation of racist attacks,49 a more systemic strategy to combat racism is needed. Many racialized persons are putting their lives at risk serving on the front lines in health care, and ensuring our food supply is stable. One serves as Canada’s top doctor. Being the “model minority” is not a good strategy, because in times of crisis, Asian Canadians are con- structed as instant outsiders, regardless of whether we are temporary foreign workers, naturalized immigrants, or have spent generations here. Belonging in Canada is complicated by immigration and pub- lic health policies which imply that some are transmitters of disease and some are “essential.” The normative discourse born of long-held immigration policies and more recent pandemic responses is, in part, responsible for reifying foreignness on racialized bodies. 47. Shelby Lin Erdman, “Black Communities Account for Disproportionate Number of COVID-19 Deaths in the US, Study Finds”, CNN (6 May 2020), online: <www. cnn.com/2020/05/05/health/coronavirus-african-americans-study/index.html>. 48. Robert Booth & Cailainn Barr, “Black People Four Times More Likely to Die from COVID-19, ONS Finds”, The  Guardian (7 May 2020), online: <www.theguard- ian.com/world/2020/may/07/black-people-four-times-more-likely-to-die-from- covid-19-ons-finds?CMP=share_btn_tw>. 49. Kathleen Harris, “Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Condemns Racist Acts Linked to Coronavirus Outbreak”, CBC News (30 January 2020), online: <www. cbc.ca/news/politics/tam-public-health-coronavirus-racism-1.5445713>.