Ethnic communities need proper support in virus fight to stop an Oldham lockdown

A leading Muslim charity chief has called for a national task force to fight the risk of coronavirus outbreaks and a lockdown in Oldham.

Imam Qasim, chairman and founder of Al-Khair Foundation, believes communities are being put at risk by poor support, health co-ordination and confusing statistics around infection rates.

“We have seen spikes in areas with high ethnic background populations, yet the response has been patchy and aimed more at avoiding responsibility for outbreaks rather than dealing with problems on the ground,” he said.

“It appears that local councils and the government are at odds with each other when they should be united to address the significant social issues involved in places such as Leicester, Bradford, Blackburn and Darwen.

“We need an independent task force with the resources and powers to help people and protect communities.

"Failure to act will only lead to the potential of further spikes of infection.”

Al-Khair, one of the fastest growing Muslim charities in the UK which runs projects on education, employment, women’s empowerment and domestic violence, has branches in towns and cities that could be vulnerable to coronavirus outbreaks.

“People are telling us that there is no effort to understand and appreciate what is happening at street and family level,” added Imam Qasim.

“Officials appear to be concentrating and, in some cases, arguing over data and statistics too much.

“There are deep-seated social and cultural issues that need to be addressed sensitively and positively.

"Everyone accepts that these are difficult times but more needs to be done for minority communities to alleviate their life, health and work conditions.”

He believes that poverty, a powerful work ethic, generations living tightly together, English as a second language and lack of healthcare increase the COVID-19 risk for ethnic populations.

“These communities are often almost forgotten when it comes to care facilities and the impact of poverty,” he said.

“Their work ethic means that sweat shops have the ability to operate and, because of a lack of alternative employment, people are drawn there.

“There are common themes about the outbreaks in Blackburn and Leicester and we must learn from them.

"It is time for a national effort to address these issues and provide long term solutions health and social welfare solutions.”

Al-Khair, founded in 2003, runs support schemes across the UK and has distributed more than £175 million in international humanitarian aid over the last decade.

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