The August 2020 COVID-19 outbreak in Aotearoa, New Zealand: Delayed contact tracing for Pacific people contributes to widening health disparities

Abstract

BackgroundAfter COVID-19 arrived in New Zealand, a national system was developed to improve the efficiency of contact tracing. The first outbreak was followed by a period of ‘COVID-19 elimination’, until a community outbreak occurred in August 2020. We describe the characteristics of cases and their contacts during this outbreak, focused on the results of contact tracing. MethodsCOVID-19 case data from the national surveillance database were linked to contacts from the national contact tracing database. Demographic and clinical characteristics of cases, number of contacts, and timeliness of contact tracing were analysed by ethnicity. FindingsMost of the 179 cases were Pacific people (59%) or Māori (25%), living in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation, who had higher rates of comorbidity and accounted for almost all (21/22) hospitalisations, all 8 ICU admissions and all 3 deaths. Only 6% belonged to the European majority ethnic group. Of 2,528 registered contacts, 46% were Pacific, 14% Māori and 19% European. Only contacts that were reached were registered. Overall, 41% of contacts were reached within 4 days of onset of disease of the case, which was significantly lower for Pacific (31%) than for other ethnic groups. InterpretationOur findings confirm the greater health burden that ethnic minorities face from COVID-19. The significant delay in the timeliness of care for Pacific people shows that the public health response was inequitable for those at highest risk. Tailored public health responses and better registration of marginalised groups are necessary to provide better access to services and to improve insights for optimal future outbreak management.