Coronavirus: Review to be launched into why ethnic minorities worst-hit by COVID-19
Written by News on 16/04/2020
A formal review is to be launched into why people from a black and minority ethnic background appear to be disproportionately affected by COVID-19, Sky News understands.
It follows calls for the government to investigate the number of deaths of people from the BAME community and those working for the NHS, during the coronavirus pandemic.
Sky News analysis has found that of the 54 front line health and social care workers in England and Wales that have died because of COVID-19, 70% of them were black or from an ethnic minority.
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Our analysis also found that four of the five health trusts in England which have recorded the most deaths so far cover areas with some of the highest combined South Asian and black populations.
Many of these are in London and the West Midlands which together account for almost half of all deaths in England.
Despite only accounting for 13% of the population in England and Wales, 44% of all NHS doctors and 24% of nurses are from a BAME background.
Early research from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) found that last week 34% of critically ill coronavirus patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were from black or minority ethnic backgrounds.
According to the 2011 census, just 14% of the population is from those backgrounds.
The research was based on 3,300 patients from intensive care units.
Downing Street has confirmed the review will get under way.
It will be led by the NHS and Public Health England along with other organisations, including the British Medical Association.
On the other side of the Atlantic, there has also been alarm over the growing number of coronavirus deaths among African-American communities across the US.
Fresh data suggested that people who are black or hispanic in the US, were twice as likely to die from COVID-19.
There are fears that pre-existing health inequalities are making people from minority communities more likely to lose their lives.
Aggressive public health campaigns have been launched in cities including Chicago, where black people accounted for 72% of deaths from COVID-19 complications and 52% of positive tests, despite making up only 30% of the population.
(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Review to be launched into why ethnic minorities worst-hit by COVID-19
