BAME deaths ‘shouldn’t be a surprise’ says professor
The disproportionate impact of coronavirus on ethnic minority communities “shouldn’t be a surprise” to Public Health England, a Birmingham academic has said.
Professor Kehinde Andrews, who leads Birmingham City University’s black studies courses, said the crisis has highlighted inequalities face by people from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.
Public Health England has now commissioned an inquiry into why increasing numbers of victims of the coronavirus pandemic are from BAME backgrounds.
Analysis of NHS data by the Times shows 6.4 per cent of Covid-19 deaths were among black people, while they make up 3.4 per cent of the population.
An Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre study found that 35 per cent of patients critically ill with the virus were non-white, compared to 14 per cent of the UK population as a whole.
At a a meeting of Birmingham’s Health and Wellbeing Board last week, it was heard 64 per cent of coronavirus deaths at Birmingham City Hospital in March were from the black African and Asian communities. In April this fell to 50 per cent.
Professor Andrews said a key factor was that ethnic minority communities are more likely to live in cities, including Birmingham, and more likely to live in crowded areas.
He added they are more likely to work in front line services such as the NHS, and be unable to work from home during the lock down.
Professor Andrews said: “It shouldn’t really be a surprise. BAME communities are significantly more likely to be unwell in most ways.
“The really quite stark health inequalities shouldn’t a surprise to Public Health England.
“The vast majority of ethnic minority communities live in cities. Half of the UK’s black community lives in London, and there are high populations in other big cities like Birmingham and Manchester.
“They are more likely to be in the inner city, in more crowded areas.
“They are far more likely to work in front line services. The NHS is a perfect example. Since it started, it relied on migrant workers.
“They are disproportionately likely to work in service jobs and insecure work where you can’t stay at home.
“This shouldn’t be a surprise at all. I really would have thought Public Health England should have understood this.
“When the Government was talking about herd immunity and all that nonsense, there was a reluctance to shut down the economy which put people generally in more danger.
“It seems like they let it spread for a week longer than they should have done.
“At least the impact on BAME communities is being raised to some extent – but not as much as it should be.
“There has been this ‘all in it together’ message but the virus is clearly discriminating. It’s pulling at all the seams of society more generally, and highlighting race inequality and class inequality.
“For many people, the lock down is really hard – almost impossible. The impact of poverty which is already decimating communities will take force even after the lock down ends.
“It’s going to be devastating for some people, and will disproportionately affect ethnic minorities.
“It sheds a light on how unequal British society is. I don’t think that conversation is being had. We are not all in this together.”