City Council seeks coronavirus data by ethnicity

LOWELL — Every Friday, the city releases a report breaking down COVID-19 infections by gender, age and neighborhood.

Not included is information on the race and ethnicity of patients. Speakers at the City Council meeting on Tuesday said this information is essential for targeting outreach amid reports that some minority communities have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.

“We need the data,” said Bobby Tugbiyele, the founder of The Leap Network, LLC, a recruiting firm for diverse and underrepresented health care providers. “We need to know who is disproportionately impacted by the virus.”

City Manager Eileen Donoghue and Health Director Joanne Belanger said getting accurate numbers has proven to be a challenge. The current information does not provide “meaningful public health inferences,” according to a memo presented to the City Council.

“We do seek that information and we want it to be accurate,” Donoghue said. “If it’s not accurate, it’s not helpful for us.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, information is still emerging nationwide, but “current data suggest a disproportionate burden of illness and death among racial and ethnic minority groups.”

This is attributed to economic and social conditions more common among some minority groups, according to the CDC. People who are Hispanic or black are more likely than people who are white to be uninsured or be “essential workers” and therefore unable to stay home.

Chelsea, where over half the residents are Hispanic or Latino, has the highest per capita rate of coronavirus cases in the state. Of the state’s 351 cities and towns, Lowell has the 10th highest number of cases per capita, according to numbers released by the state on Wednesday. The city had 2,602 confirmed cases as of Friday.

In Lowell, about a fifth of residents identify as Asian, a fifth as Hispanic or Latino and about 7% as black, according to recent Census numbers.

Donoghue said the city has made efforts to gather racial and ethnic information on cases — it was not an afterthought. However, the numbers — initially collected at testing sites — are incomplete, according to Donoghue. Statewide data on ethnicity and race indicates 41% of cases as “unknown/missing.”

The way the state has collected this data has been uneven, according to Belanger. Ethnicity data is free-form and difficult to analyze, she said. Early tracking efforts, focused on recent travel, not demographics.

“When this all started, we had no idea this was going to blow up to what this has been and we were more concerned about travel history,” Belanger said.

Donoghue said Lowell was one of the first communities to provide weekly reports on coronavirus cases that included neighborhood and demographic data. The first of these weekly reports was released on April 2.

In mid-April, Councilor Sokhary Chau filed a motion to provide a “comprehensive neighborhood report” regarding COVID-19 cases. The response to his motion by Belanger spurred the discussion over data on race and ethnicity on Tuesday.

Chau said the city should try to partner with nonprofits to get this information on a monthly basis.

“So that way we don’t just let it go,” he said. “Say we can’t do it.”

Diego Leonardo, founder of the Latinx Community Center for Empowerment and a member of Coalition for a Better Acre, also pushed for this approach during the meeting.

Councilor Vesna Nuon asked Belanger to release the information the city does have, even if it’s incomplete.

“We have come a long way,” he said. “We have done a great job in this and this is new to all of us. And we just need time to do better.”

Councilor Rodney Elliott said he believes one of the challenges is getting patients to volunteer this information.

“The problem is people aren’t answering the phone or responding to questions,” he said.

Councilor David Conway praised the work of the city’s Health Department and contact tracers.

“It’s very easy to be a Monday morning quarterback and, as we all know, they’re a dime a dozen,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, City Council:

• Approved ordinances to cap the amount third-party delivery services can charge restaurants
• Received a report on state inspections of nursing homes in the city
• Received a report on online record requests during the coronavirus
• Received a report on the cancellation of “virtually all” of Lowell’s summer festivals as well as an effort to provide smaller-scale street level entertainment this summer.
• Received a report on dumping at clothing donation boxes
• Received a report on a new loading sign at Immaculate Conception Church
• Received a report on funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. A representative from the MSBA “advised the city projects that have already approved by the MSBA are not in jeopardy as a result of the COVID-19 crisis,” including Lowell High.

Motions

• Requested the city manager provide information on a timetable for reopening the city’s parks, playgrounds and pools
• Requested the city manager remove Planet Aid boxes from St. Hilaires Car Wash and provide a report on other boxes in violation of city codes and regulations
• Requested the city manager work with Lowell non-profits when restrictions are lifted to hold a candle light vigil for Lowell residents who died of COVID-19
• Requested the city council adopt a resolution supporting a bill in the state senate, regarding clean energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Request the city manager update the council on the collapse of a building on 242 Lakeview Ave., which had an expired work order
• Request the city manager provide a report on what is being done to address stagnant water in the city’s schools
• Request the city manager have the transportation engineer develop traffic calming measures for Varnum Avenue.