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Covid-19: Leicester lockdown spreads dismay among Indians, others
Visitors arriving in Leicester by train are greeted with welcome signs in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu, among other languages, reflecting the city’s multicultural reality, but dealing with the diversity during the pandemic may have contributed to a spike in new infections.
Visitors arriving in Leicester by train are greeted with welcome signs in Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Urdu, among other languages, reflecting the city’s multicultural reality, but dealing with the diversity during the pandemic may have contributed to a spike in new infections.
Leicester in the east Midlands has been placed under a lockdown while the rest of England will largely re-open from Saturday, spreading disappointment among its over 3 lakh population, nearly half non-white, including nearly 30 per cent of Indian heritage.
Official messages in the city are invariably translated in Indian and other languages, but reports allege that the new infections may be the result of coronavirus-related messages not being translated for the benefit of some sections of the population.
Other causes for the spike mentioned include high levels of economic deprivation, congested housing and allegations of exploitation of undocumented migrants and workers by owners of garment and food factories, who reportedly insisted on them working despite being infected.
Local resident Prabin Hazarika, brother of cultural icon the late Bhupen Hazarika, said: “The lockdown is a huge disappointment. There were already indications that many people were not taking official advice seriously enough”.
Trisha, his wife, added: “I am very angry and also very sorry for the mostly young workers who are exploited by food-processing and other factory owners. No PPE, no social distancing at work. This is earning a bad name for Leicester”.
Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby and other leaders said that until recently they did not have data from central health authorities to deal with the situation. The spike in infections was evident in tests carried out outside hospitals, whose figures are not usually published.
Labour Behind the Label, a campaign group that works to improve conditions and empower workers in the global garment industry, said in a new report that factories in Leicester are no stranger to illegal working conditions, with numerous reports of low pay and intimidation of vulnerable workers.
It said that garment manufacturing is a major industry in Leicester with over 1000 known sites, excluding home-working; most are small workshops, often housed in dilapidated buildings with little investment in building safety and modern ventilation.
The group said it had reports that workers have been told to come to work – even when they showed symptoms of Covid-19 – and would lose their jobs if they did not: “We have heard of several incidents, whereby workers who had tested positive were told to come into work, and of managers telling workers not to tell anyone else about positive cases”.
According to an analysis by local health officials, more people in Leicester from BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) backgrounds are dying than White British people from the virus.
This, the analysis adds, is likely due to a combination of factors that include: more BAME people being exposed to/contracting the virus in the first place; they are more exposed to the virus as they form a significant majority of health and social care work force (44% of NHS medical staff) as well as other frontline service professionals (such as delivery drivers and transport staff); and because people from certain ethnic backgrounds are more likely to have long-term health conditions, which likely exacerbate symptoms and/or severity of the virus.
Expressing disappointment at the lockdown, former Labour MP from Leicester East, Keith Vaz, said that because of its large South Asian origin population, Leicester has one of the largest number of diabetes sufferers in the UK.
Calling for wide testing for diabetes, he said: “What we also need to do is to ramp up the testing for diabetes, it is now established that one of the underlying health conditions that causes Coronavirus complications is those who have diabetes and it is essential that they are tested for diabetes and are able to manage their condition”.
Leicester has been held up as a poster city of multiculturalism due to its success in assimilating waves of migrants that included thousands of Indians who were expelled from Idi Amin’s Uganda in the early 1970s. They have since rejuvenated the local economy and gone on to hold senior positions in various walks of life.
Local businessman Uday Dholakia said: “Considering the diverse majority communities in Leicester, the communication and conveyance of trust has fallen short. The local media, politicians and community stalwarts have been preoccupied with issues like the Gandhi statue, important though, that is”.
“The reality of making a living is a hard reality for many. The public intervention, although commendable at national level, has been patchy locally. Many business and community support networks have been systematically destroyed. Exclusion in all facets of life is obvious to see. Covid-19 has brutally exposed it”, he added.
