Coronavirus: Black men twice as likely to die with COVID-19 than white men – official figures

Men from black ethnic backgrounds are twice as likely to die with COVID-19 than white males, according to new figures.

For the first time the data took into account where people live, population density, deprivation and whether people come from crowded multi-generational households.

Men of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian ethnic backgrounds also had a significantly higher risk of death involving coronavirus (1.5 and 1.6 times respectively) than white males, the ONS found.

For females in Bangladeshi or Pakistani, Indian, Chinese and mixed ethnic groups, the risk of death was equivalent to white females.

Nick Stripe of the ONS said: “Analysis continues to show that people from a black ethnic background are at a greater risk of death involving COVID-19 than all other ethnic groups.

“The ONS will continue to research this unexplained increased risk of death, examining the impact of other health conditions.”

This comes days after a report by Public Health England (PHE) found the disproportionate impact of coronavirus the BAME community was due – in part – to racism and social and economic inequalities.

When taking into account religion, the figures found Muslim males have the highest rates of death involving COVID-19 among all groups, with a risk of dying that is 2.5 times higher than males who have no religion.

The age-adjusted mortality rate for Muslim males in England and Wales during the first few months of the coronavirus outbreak was 198.9 deaths per 100,000 people, and for females 98.2 deaths per 100,000.

By contrast, those identifying with “no religion” – based on responses in the 2011 Census – had the lowest rate of death, with 80.7 deaths per 100,000 males and 47.9 deaths per 100,000 females.

Those who identified as Jewish at the time of the 2011 Census showed an increased risk of a death involving COVID-19 compared with the Christian population.

Jewish males had a mortality rate of 187.9 deaths per 100,000, which was roughly twice the risk of Christian males (92.6 deaths per 100,000).

For Jewish females, the rate was 94.3 deaths per 100,000, compared with 54.6 deaths per 100,000 for Christian females.

The rate for Hindu males was found to be 154.8 deaths per 100,000 people, while for Sikh males it was 128.6.

For Hindu females the rate was 93.3, and for Sikh females it was 69.3.

Religion is not recorded on somebody’s death certificate, so the ONS used information from the 2011 Census to determine religious group and other demographic factors.

Analysis: It confirms what we knew – but it’s still shocking

By Inzamam Rashid

The latest data from ONS is but also isn’t shocking. It further confirms the issue we have known for over two months now, that people from a black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are at a much greater risk of catching and dying with COVID-19. There have been a number of reports and data collections which have all come to this conclusion, even a government commissioned review which was carried out by Public Health England.

This analysis from ONS, which compares deaths to the 2011 census, takes into account a number of factors which gives us a clearer picture. The data has adjusted for deprivation, multi-generational households (for the first time) and where people live and how busy it is and that shows that still this community which has been hurting ever since the start of the outbreak are at greater risk.

The adjustments give us some idea of the factors behind why this could be the case. BAME people do tend to live in more deprived and heavily populated areas, like London and Birmingham, both cities which have seen high COVID death rates.

Many live in overcrowded and multi-generational households, an issue we raised from the beginning, but a cultural issue which has clearly had a detrimental effect during the pandemic. Almost 30% of Bangladeshi households are overcrowded.

And importantly, BAME people have been at work during this crisis whether it’s as, taxi drivers, or security guards or in the healthcare setting – they have been vulnerable to catching the disease and research shows once they do they’re at increased chance of ending up in intensive care and dying.

The data doesn’t tell us anything particularly new. It’s an addition to the dire situation BAME people have been in during this pandemic But what it does do is add pressure on the government to take some action and implement policy to protect this community in light of a second wave.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Black men twice as likely to die with COVID-19 than white men – official figures