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Covid-19 hospital admissions 'more likely' among black and ethnic minorities in Wolverhampton

People who are Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) are more likely to have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in Wolverhampton, an expert has said.

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Dr Kate Warren, consultant in public health, said the city was "more deprived" on average than the UK which could be another factor.

But she revealed the findings but stressed the "strongest" case was due to age – and urged caution when interpreting data.

Dr Warren, who spoke at Wolverhampton's Health and Wellbeing Together Board meeting, said: "We know that national research has shown there has been an increase risk of hospital admissions and Covid-related deaths to the BAME community.

"But it's important to note that age is still overwhelmingly the strongest determining factor.

"If they are young they are most likely to experience a mild form of the disease, even if they are from an ethnic minority background.

"All research to take have tried to account for different factors which could be confounding this relation. This is a complex picture of social culture, health factors and biological issues.

"It's appropriate that we do not wait for a definitive evidence and we need appropriate and proportionate steps moving forward."

Leaders across the city have held discussions and "agreed" to commit to raise awareness of the findings, engage with people and protect staff at a higher risk from half.

More than half of the population in Wolverhampton are living in some of the poorest 20 per cent of neighbourhoods nationally, a report said.

And all BAME groups are more likely to live in the poorest 20 per cent of those poor neighbourhoods.

But the report stressed that combing all BAME groups could create "misleading findings" at local levels.

It said the data should be split where possible – but data limitations at a local level means "conclusions" for the smaller groups are less reliable.