Covid cases spike in western Sydney Aboriginal community

Almost half of the Covid-19 cases detected in NSW’s Aboriginal population have been in southwest and western Sydney, as health experts cite grave concerns for the high-risk community.

One hundred and nine of the 226 cases diagnosed so far in the state’s Indigenous community. Picture: Getty Images

Almost half of the Covid-19 cases detected in NSW’s Aboriginal population have been in southwest and western Sydney, as health experts cite grave concerns for the high-risk community.

One hundred and nine of the 226 cases diagnosed so far in the state’s Indigenous community have been detected in the Liverpool (44), Penrith (24) and Parramatta (41) local health districts.

While fears are rife for Indigenous communities in regional NSW, where case numbers have reached almost 90 during the ­latest outbreak, health experts are becoming increasingly concerned for Sydney’s Indigenous population.

“Covid has highlighted incredible health inequity and we see that most in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,” Western Sydney University chair of general practice Jenny Reath said.

“Often those communities have more crowded housing, often have underlying health problems, poorer access to healthcare which puts them at high risk of Covid and higher risk of much worse consequences.

“This is why it’s such a concern for us when it gets into the ­community.”

Professor Reath said the “connectedness” of Aboriginal Australians was a blessing and a curse when battling a pandemic.

“The real strength in those communities lies in their connectedness – which is also obviously a risk factor – but it means they work together as a community to support and protect,” she said.

She indicated that the numbers “weren’t surprising” as southwest and western Sydney had some of the largest populations of Aboriginal people in the country.

Indigenous people make up nearly 5 per cent of the population of Penrith City Council, in Sydney’s west, the highest share among the city’s local governments.

In neighbouring Blacktown City Council, there were nearly 12,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, according to the 2016 census, or 3.4 per cent of the population.

In Liverpool, in southwest Sydney, 3000 of the 204,000 residents (1.5 per cent) said they had Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origins, or both.

Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council chief executive Robert Skeen said the surging infections in the Indigenous community could be because of the close connectivity of the culture.

“Our elders are very important to us, and we have to have a family connection as often as we can,” he said. “When you’ve got elders or family living in different parts of Sydney, it’s a difficult ask to stop any visits and tell people they won’t be able to see each other for an indefinite period of time.”

He said it was a “critical issue” because young people were very susceptible to the disease.

“In the last outbreak, people thought it was just in the older age groups, but now we are seeing it in the younger ones. We have a very young population, so it’s gravely concerning,” he said.

Western Sydney University associate dean of Indigenous health Aunty Kerrie Doyle said her biggest worry was the impact of isolation on the mental health of young Indigenous Australians.

“The main cause of our ­suicide-thinking is hopelessness,” she said. “Two years this has been going on. It’s especially difficult in places that have large case numbers who are so isolated from one another.”

Her community was also ­“terribly worried” the virus would take the lives of its elders.

“To lose an elder is like losing a part of your cultural heritage,” she said. “We worry about our elders and our young people.”