More than 16% of coronavirus victims in England from BAME communities

More than 16% of people who had tested positive for coronavirus when they died were from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, new data shows.

On Monday, NHS England released data showing the ethnic breakdown of people who have died with coronavirus for the first time.

The figures, using data up to 5pm on April 17, reveal that of 13,918 patients in hospitals in England who had tested positive for Covid-19 at time of death, 73.6% were of white ethnicity, 16.2% were of BAME ethnicity and 0.7% had mixed ethnicity.

The remaining 9.5% had no stated or identifiable ethnicity.

The statistics come days after a review was announced to examine what appears to be a disproportionate number of BAME people who have been affected by Covid-19.

In the 2011 UK census around 7.5% of the population were Asian and 3.3% black.

Last week Downing Street confirmed the NHS and Public Health England will lead the review of evidence, following pressure on ministers to launch an investigation.

According to the new data, the 16.2% figure for BAME ethnicity breaks down as Indian 3.0%, Pakistani 2.1%, Bangladeshi 0.6%, any other Asian background 1.6%, Caribbean 2.9%, African 1.9%, any other black background 0.9%, Chinese 0.4% and any other ethnic group 2.8%.

Of the more than 60 NHS workers who have died with Covid-19, a significant proportion were from BAME backgrounds.

Discussing the review, Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said ethnicity is “less clear” than three others factors in determining who is most at risk from coronavirus.

“This is something we are very keen to get extremely clear.

“We’ve asked Public Health England to look at this in some detail and then what we really want is, if we see any signal at all, we want to then know what next we can do about it to minimise risk.”

A London doctor working with Covid-19 patients said the virus has exposed health inequalities for minority communities.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mohammed Abbas Khaki, 34, a GP with Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Existing inequalities will be more greatly exposed at a time of crisis. For example, south Asians live in more deprived areas and have more diabetes, kidney and cardiovascular disease.

“Additionally, south Asian people often live in larger, multi-generational households, where social isolation may not be as easy.

“Many of these workers may also be in key worker jobs – combining their frontline roles with their living arrangements might be a reason that we are seeing so many of the BAME population in intensive care units.”