Can you imagine living through this COVID-19 pandemic if you were in a different country? If you didn’t speak the language of that country?
Think about how that would feel. Are you afraid? Do you feel safe? How do you know what to do?
Our community is home to many who have come from far and wide. These families and people come for a better life in Canada – perhaps coming to make Chatham-Kent their new home or coming short-term to find work and security for their families back home. Our community is better off for having people take a chance on us – helping our community and economy grow.
Moving to a new place can be difficult for anyone. Dealing with the COVID-19 situation is difficult for everyone, too.
But, newcomers, immigrants and migrant workers are in an even more difficult situation because they are in a new place, with a new language and may be in situations that make following the COVID-19 rules hard.
Newcomers to Canada may live and work in spaces that make self-isolation and physical distancing tough to do. And for people who may not speak or read English, understanding and following the rules related to COVID-19 is even more difficult.
These added challenges put our new community members at a higher risk of getting COVID-19.
The Governments of Canada and Ontario have COVID-19 resources available in many languages on their websites. And, CK Public Health has been working with community partners at Adult Language & Learning to support community members who need it, and to adapt and translate resources for employers, employees, and other people who need them. A number of these resources are available on our website.
While CK Public Health is working to support people who are new to Canada during the pandemic, the challenges our newcomer community members face are bigger than COVID-19.
COVID-19 is shining a light on many conditions within our society that are putting certain groups of people at a higher risk of infection. These conditions existed long before COVID-19 came around.
Let’s use this pandemic as a chance to learn and work towards improving the conditions that put people at risk for poor health.
Resources:
CK Public Health COVID-19 resources
CK Public Health Equity Matters
Other Articles in the Can You Imagine Series
Living through COVID-19 if you didn’t feel safe in your home?
Living through COVID-19 if you had limits on your physical or intellectual abilities?
Living through COVID-19 if you already felt alone?