'Why was the UK Jewish community affected so severely, so much more so than most other Jewish communities? There is, I believe, a clear emerging answer. We didn’t lock down early enough. And by ‘we,’ I don’t mean we, the United Kingdom. I mean we, the Jewish community.'
December 24, 2020 09:38
Most of us have friends or family members who either died from COVID or had a close call. There are two reasons for that. First, it’s because hundreds of British Jews died during the first wave of the pandemic. And second, it’s because we’re a close-knit community.
Indeed, we now know that the Jewish death rate in Britain between March and May 2020 was twice the usual level for that time of year. The Manchester community was hit particularly hard: the number of deaths there at that time was 2.7 times higher than normal. In fact, we haven’t found anywhere else in the world that was affected quite so badly. And believe me, we’ve looked — JPR has gathered and analysed data from all over Europe, Israel, USA, Canada and Australia. Many Jewish communities were affected more than the populations around them, but the UK story was particularly acute.
Why was the UK Jewish community affected so severely, so much more so than most other Jewish communities? There is, I believe, a clear emerging answer. We didn’t lock down early enough. And by ‘we,’ I don’t mean we, the United Kingdom. I mean we, the Jewish community.
We know this partly from research we asked the Office for National Statistics to conduct which shows that while the Jewish death rate was very high early in the pandemic, it soon normalised. The problem occurred mainly at the beginning, early in the first wave. This was confirmed by our own data, from the national survey of the UK Jewish population JPR conducted in July. It found that one in five of all Jews who had contracted coronavirus by that time said they were first symptomatic in February. Most of the rest reported March. So, by the time national lockdown began on March 23, many of the Jews who were going to die from it had already contracted it.
Where did they pick it up? There are two strong indicators. First, about one in four Jews in the UK said they had travelled abroad in February or March 2020, before lockdown. That is a remarkably high proportion, much higher than among the UK population at large. And, of course, airports and aeroplanes — with their large, diverse populations intermingling closely indoors — are perfect environments to pick up an airborne virus.
Second, about two in five Jews in the UK said they had been to a bar mitzvah, wedding, large communal gathering or Purim celebration in February or March. And similarly, all such events — with celebrants tightly-packed indoors, sharing food, hugging, kissing and dancing — are an ideal breeding ground for a virus.
In short, we picked it up early —at least in part through widespread international travel — and then we shared it among ourselves doing what Jews love to do, even have to do: spending time together.
No one part of the community was significantly more affected than another at that time. It hit everyone — secular and religious, progressive, Orthodox and Charedi.
It was no one’s fault. It took almost everyone some time to recognise the risk, and even longer to work out what to do about it. For the most part, we followed government guidelines — when they eventually came into effect.
But now we know better. We know that our way of life makes us particularly vulnerable to a virus like COVID-19. That was the case in the spring, that’s the case right now as cases are rising rapidly, and that will be the case in the future. So, looking ahead, we should know that the moment the World Health Organisation announces a “public health emergency of international concern,” we in the Jewish community should act, irrespective of what the government does. For the record, the WHO made that announcement on January 30.
To achieve that, we need to create a permanent national or international body of Jewish epidemiologists to advise Jewish communities when, where and how to shut down if necessary. And it should be established now.
Of course, whether in this pandemic or the next, many will fail to heed such a body’s warnings or follow its advice, because in such a well-educated and sometimes rather entitled community, too many of us claim to know better than the experts. But the evidence is in, and frankly, it’s looking increasingly clear. If we want to save Jewish lives next time, shut down early, and shut down hard.
Jonathan Boyd is is Executive Director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR).
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