COVID-19 and Ethnic Disparities: An Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 on Different Ethnic Groups of Assam State in Indian Sub-Continent

Abstract

Abstract Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread throughout the world and nearly collapsed the healthcare system worldwide. During this period, major disparities around the healthcare system were observed among the different nations. The pandemic revealed glaring disparities to COVID-19 and different outcomes across different racial and ethnic groups. Objectives: This research study aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on various ethnic groups within Assam, exploring the socioeconomic, healthcare access, and cultural factors contributing to disparities in infection rates, severity, and mortality; since the people of the Assam are an intermixture of various racial stocks such as Mongoloid, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Iranian, Austroasiatic and Aryan. Materials and Methods: This study employed a survey-based research approach to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on Assam's different racial and ethnic groups, exploring disparities in infection rates, severity, and mortality, along with the underlying factors contributing to these disparities. The study involved 310 participants aged 15 years and above from rural suburban and urban areas. The data was collected in the month of September’2023 and using Google Form, an easily navigable online survey platform. The survey comprised a series of multiple-choice questions; covering topics related to demographic information, experience during pandemic, observations. Results: 321 persons responded to the questionnaire, and out of which 11 submissions were rejected because of invalid response. People from 18 ethnic groups and 5 sub-groups responded. One of the worst effected ethnic tribe appears to be the Boro tribe, where 57% of respondents were infected, 70% showed severe symptoms & 60% were hospitalized. In fact, the Boro tribe also showed the second highest percentage of infected persons who showed post-Covid complications (43%). Another ethnic tribe showing similar results was the Rabha tribe. 52% of respondents were infected, 60% showed severe symptoms & 70% were hospitalized. However, only 20% of the infected showed post-Covid complications. Conclusions: Assam with such a diverse and abundant ethnic pool, the disparities that was seen amongst these ethnic tribes and groups could not be completely attributed to disparity in socio-economic condition or access to primary health care. Further research is essential to look beyond socio-economic disparities and look deeper into the genetic or other factors that safeguarded many of these ethnic tribes and will be helpful in finding a right direction in minimizing the impact of future pandemics.