Do they mean us?
Remember how Derek Jamieson used to make us laugh with the quaint views of overseas journalists who didn’t quite get Britain. Well this blog is deadly serious and while it is focusing on us, it is pointing to a global issue, the link between the impact of the pandemic and the prevalence of deprivation,
The mighty Bloomberg , talking to the world, has curated a series of micro-blogs to twitter that tell a sad and disturbingly familiar story about the spate of local lock downs experienced across Europe. No doubt the message will not be lost on those in America, mindful of recent events at home. Here is the thread in full, you can read it on twitter here.
🇬🇧U.K.
🇩🇪Germany
🇬🇷Greece
🇮🇹Italy
🇵🇹PortugalEurope’s latest string of outbreaks all have something in common: poverty https://t.co/hQ1SEtsa2H
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
Flare-ups have been occurring in some of Europe’s most deprived neighborhoods, often those inhabited by immigrants or minorities who work in low-paid jobs, crucial to buttressing the economy https://t.co/hQ1SEtsa2H pic.twitter.com/50PsneZhfB
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
🇩🇪 Hundreds of workers in one of Europe’s biggest meat-processing plants in Guetersloh have tested positive for the virus.
Those affected are largely poorly paid Eastern European immigrants, who live together in accommodation for the plant’s workers https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/rvYRJApst4
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
🇬🇧Leicester is a new coronavirus hotspot and has been forced into lockdown for two more weeks.
The city ranks in the bottom 10% in terms of income deprivation in England, and scores poorly in other areas such as education and health https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/ErJYxkZFLg
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
🇮🇹 There’s been a spike in cases in the town of Mondragone, clustered around a high-rise compound hosting a group of Bulgarian immigrants who work in seasonal agricultural jobs.
The army has been sent in to put the complex under strict surveillance https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/ZenovmsdnB
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
Mondragone ranks in the top 10% of Italian towns with the largest share of immigrants, and the bottom 10% of those for per capita declared income https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/eiEjZZpZID
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
Similar clusters have also appeared Greece and Portugal:
🇬🇷Echinos, in northern Greece, was put under a local “smart lockdown”
🇵🇹19 neighborhoods in the Lisbon region were affectedThese areas are deprived, and home to groups of poor minorities https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/iniwv2wNeq
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
There are several reasons why these poor communities are suffering outbreaks:
💊Worse access to health care
😷Less access to information about how to protect against the virus
⚠️Greater risk of losing their jobs, so avoid testing or seeking treatment https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/HEd3meNloK— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
Years of neglect of these communities have allowed a whole host of inequalities to build up in terms of:
🎓Education
💼Job opportunities
🏡Housing
💉Health careThe coronavirus has forced these inequalities to the surface https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/rANPSpHp5q
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
There’s also a risk these outbreaks cause deep divisions within populations.
In Italy’s Mondragone, tensions arose when some people accused immigrant groups of spreading the virus and failing to respect the rules https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/iorjIRfmWb
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
Governments must strike a difficult balance.
They need to keep citizens informed, but without undermining the privacy of individuals or demonizing entire groups, especially when those citizens are more vulnerable https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/r83wC2scAR
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020
The crisis is providing a much-needed reminder of the many failings in economic and social integration across Europe.
It won’t be easy addressing these problems at a time of profound and widespread insecurity https://t.co/hxBvGphBoJ pic.twitter.com/txSgooTCCr
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 3, 2020