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If there was no coronavirus, the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia would be full of humanity.
Every year, about two million Muslims gather there to commemorate the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage that began this week, and millions more sign up to pray around the world.
But this year, as Covid-19 continues to extend its malignancy, the silence has descended upon the siege.
Instead of a giant crowd, 1,000 worshippers, all Saudi citizens, were allowed to attend in strict compliance with social estrangement rules.
The general and partial blockade of government in the north has made Eid’s celebrations even more different this year. Pictured: Muslims gather on the street after Friday prayers on a street in Blackburn, Lancashire
The sense of isolation embodied through the minimalist edition of the Hajj is reflected here in Britain, where Muslims are at Eid’s party this weekend.
It’s usually a time of birthday party and reflection, however, it was going to be another one this year, even before the government announced a partial and total closure in giant parts of the north of England, adding Greater Manchester, Eastern Lancashire and parts of West. Yorkshire.Array
Of the more than 4 million people affected, many are Muslim, as northern cities include some of the country’s largest South Asian populations.
Although mosques are open, the number of worshippers will be open and network meetings will be banned.
Even home meetings will, I suppose, be a limited matter, with limited hugs and handshakes.
And under the new regulations announced Thursday night, families won’t be able to mingle, even if they’re socially estranged from personal gardens.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied that the blockade had anything to do with Eid and the transmission threat posed even through small teams of other people meeting to celebrate. In fact, I would possibly have the idea that it would be incendiary to say.
But the resolution has already provoked widespread complaints from those to whom the Muslim network is being unfairly attacked.
Public members at Spinney Hill Park in Leicester, localized restrictions on coronavirus blocking have been in place since 29 June
Some network leaders accuse ministers of “abuse of power” and “ignoring British Muslims.” I agree with that.
The justification for this dramatic resolution through the Government is to save you a moment of general blockade, as the rate of infections is skyrocking in those regions.
But why do infection rates skyrocket? I think we want a little honesty in this debate: ministers, doctors and scientists are obviously talking about the genetic and lifestyle hazards that make some communities more vulnerable, and a renewed effort to focus more public fitness measures through officials who are afraid. to do so. be accused of stigmatizing certain teams if they do.
Let’s take a look at the statistics: for the national average of 7.2 instances consistent with 100,000 inhabitants, the rate in Blackburn, for example, has more than 85.3 instances consisting of 100,000 inhabitants, while in Oldham it is 53.1 and Bradford 44.9.
People who buy food in Oldham, Greater Manchester, have noticed cases of coronavirus building up in the area
In Leicester, a partial blockade had to be reintroduced last month after a resurgence of the virus there.
Things have improved, however, even with the pullback of those strict rules, Leicester, one of England’s most varied cities, still has an infection rate of 57.7 cases consistent with the population of 100,000 today, more than 8 times the national average.
This disparity reflects an important fact that many officials do not need to face because of politically correct scruples and fears about accusations of prejudice.
The fact is that cities such as Leicester, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire have been heavily affected by the pandemic because their giant populations of ethnic minorities are more vulnerable than white populations.
We would probably have to fight for equality in our modern, multiracial British society, but I am concerned that Covid-19 is not an equal opportunity disease.
Its effect is uneven, but mainly affects South Asians.
A survey of 35,000 patients showed that South Asians are 20% more likely to die in the hospital than whites, while showing that ethnic minorities are 4 times more likely to test positive in Covid-19 than whites.
Hiding from this truth does not favor anyone, leaves the maximum vulnerable.
Ignoring the risks is counterproductive, as I know from my own experience as Crown Prosecutor for the North West of England, when I had to combat the institutionalized determination of the police, the media and the local government to cover up the abuse of white women through predatory methods. gangs, basically from South Asia, in my community.
It is infection rates in the northwest that concern the government, although some said rates in some of the blocked districts remain “very low,” while British Muslims have criticized the blockade of Eid.
It was a reluctance generated by a preference not to undermine the narrative of multicultural success, but by weakening the integrity of the justice system, it has only succeeded in harming those affected and by Asian communities.
The same misplaced racial sensitivities have inhibited combating crime with a white weapon, gangs of drug traffickers at the county border, and brutal and misogistic practices such as female genital mutilation.
The arrival of coronavirus is not a time of disgust or hesitation. If we are going to combat this brutal scourge, we will have to face the facts and not the illusions.
Infection rates among South Asians are a call to action and not a sign of a cover-up.
I know the charge of this disease myself because I lost my expensive brother in April.
Akhtar Mahmood (left) Mohammed Ashraf Tahir Nushahi (right), from Bradford, spoke as the government criticized for imposing a new blockade in Manchester, Eastern Lancashire and West Yorkshire in early Eid
A highly compatible 70-year-old man, a prominent network leader who acted as an interpreter for the Ministry of the Interior.
When Covid-19 symptoms evolved, he was taken to hospital, but the NHS was so overloaded that he sent home a few hours later after a test. The effects took eight days to arrive. At the moment, it’s too late.
What made my pain even deeper is that, because of the lockdown, it’s possible that our circle of family members just didn’t mourn it properly. The funeral report, the limited number.
The same day my circle of relatives was preparing for the funeral, the assistant prime minister, Dominic Cummings, violated the closure of Barnard Castle in County Durham, supposedly to check his sight.
Apart from the outrageous hypocrisy, there is no doubt that Cummings’ movements have reduced public respect for closure, thus increasing infection rates.
So I fully perceive the pain that coronavirus brings and how South Asian communities have been disproportionately affected. But if we need to replace the pattern, we have to deal with the points that have led to this disparity. Concerns about network “stereotypes” are largely offset by genuine public aptitude needs.
One of the reasons for the higher rates among South Asians may simply be genetics. I am not a medical expert, but there are no biological differences between certain teams in Britain, which is reflected in the higher incidence of diabetes between blacks and ethnic minorities, which increases the mortality rate of Covid-19.
Addressing studies that have shown the highest mortality of coronavirus in minorities, Professor Ewen Harrison of the University of Edinburgh recently told the BBC that “the population of south Asia hospitalized is absolutely different from the white population. They are 12 years younger on average, which is a big difference. They do not have dementia, obesity or lung diseases, but they have very high rates of diabetes.”
The faithful practice social estrangement at The Central Mosque in Bradford on Eid’s first day
More vital than these potential genetic differences are fitness inequalities, declining wages, poorer housing and more homes. Research shows that ethnic minorities are seven times more likely to live in overcrowded housing, with several generations under one roof.
The credit of these families is that Asians tend to use rest houses and hospices less. The problem is that assistance in overcrowded situations spreads contagion more easily.
It is not that the northern villages that are now subject to a new blockade are complete of disadvantaged neighborhoods, full of minorities living on ruined terraces or concrete towers.
Similarly, the trend towards infections may have been exacerbated by Asian purchasing practices, based on the tendency to use local, crowded ethnic produce, rather than larger, more open supermarkets.
People dressed in masks are checked their temperature before being allowed into Manchester’s Central Mosque to worship this morning, when the city and much of the north-west were closed.
It is also true that before the global offensive at the end of March, Asians from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh arrived here in large numbers. Without proper control at airports, there will inevitably be higher rates of infection.
The nature of the paintings in these spaces is also an important consideration. First, blacks and ethnic minorities make up at least 20 percent of the NHS’s workforce, which puts them at the forefront of the risk of infection.
That is, they were at risk at the peak of the coronavirus in March and April, when both the virus and the inadequate control and protection materials were unknown.
The greatest burden for doctors, nurses and fitness workers, with ethnic minorities even more present. It is notable that at the end of May, 94% of the doctors who died with Covid belonged to an ethnic minority.
The faithful practice social estrangement when they arrive at the Bradford Grand Mosque in Bradford, West Yorkshire, today; however, some devoted leaders have said it was to announce the closure with so little notice.
However, even far from the NHS, occupations of the British Asians tend to make them more vulnerable. Unlike middle-class professionals who like to extol the pleasure of running from home, with the help of Zoom technology, many Asians have jobs that involve direct contact with the public, such as retailers, taxi drivers or takeaway employees.
Alternatively, there are also a lot of Asians running in warehouses or factories, in overcrowded situations where social estrangement is impossible.
This is the case of Leicester, as we have learned in recent weeks, with its diversity of clothing stores, where low-paid staff, paid below the minimum wage, operates the jaw.
Unsurprisingly, the poorly regulated fashion industry has been fertile ground for the virus. People who have zero-hour contracts or who have payment packages still don’t have options to settle for work, regardless of risk. The generosity of the government’s licensing program applies only to other people with strong employment and not to other insecure people in the twilight economy.
Cautions in position at Toller Lane Mosque, Bradford, leaders highlight the severity of closing restrictions
There are also cultural disorders such as language. As the announcement of Thursday’s partial closure demonstrated, the Government’s communication on the crisis has been complex and contradictory.
It has already been difficult to perceive the message even when English is your local language, so how much harder does it have to be for those who have poor English proficiency?
The same goes for cell tracking and tracking technology, where it would use the app, despite strict official mandates, without an in-depth knowledge of English.
And it is likely that any Asian who seeks to ask in the translation to a Frifines or neighbor, through this same action, will end up physically violating the rules of social estrangement.
Unlike some of the worst anti-immigrant rhetoric, I think the vast majority of Asians have infrequently complied with the rules of lockout. A social estrangement has been observed, adding up the maximum number of mosques. But communities want to be fair and recognize that it’s hard to abide by all the rules.
The South Asians try to reinvent the village from our roots in our British environment, so that a family has neighbors who are related. In practice, this can foster a sense of complacency with the blockade, where the attitude is “well, we can lose it.” Actually, this is not an infringement. After all, they are part of the family.”
The consequences of such behaviour will be made more specific in public messages of fitness for those communities.
Asians, at most of the British population, were notable for their stoicism in this ordinary period. Speaking on the eve of the Eid, Shadim Hussain of the Bradford Foundation Trust said: “The message has passed. Overall, I think it obviously identifies that this is the Eid at home this year.”
But, given the terrible death toll in months, the occasion will have a special thrill this weekend, especially for me and my family.
My mom passed away on Thursday. She had lived through war, partition, disease, death and disaster, but now her death will be nothing but a footnote in a spring and a summer of exaggerated deaths.
She is my inspiration and my biggest fan, who came with me to Buckingham Palace when I won my OBE from the Queen. My mom enjoyed the UK. She felt it was her greatest achievement to have been able to raise her children here and give us opportunities that would not be had elsewhere.
I know what your vision of this crisis would have been: that we will have to face the fact of the magnitude of covid-19’s challenge in Asian communities and take action.
Seeking answers is a scapegoat, he’s human.
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Edited through Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro Media Group