Death rates from COVID-19 in England were higher among those with ethnic minority backgrounds than for others, according to a report by Public Health England published Tuesday.
“An analysis of survival among confirmed COVID-19 cases and using more detailed ethnic groups shows that after accounting for the effect of sex, age, deprivation and region, people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death than people of White British ethnicity,” the report said.
Meanwhile, risk of death for people of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, Caribbean and other Black ethnicity was between 10 and 50 percent higher when compared to White British.
However, it is less clear why ethnicity increases someones risk. The analysis of ethnicity and COVID-19 risk did not take into account the impact of other known risk factors such as occupation or obesity.
The report, commissioned by the government, looked at a range of demographic and health factors and their relationship with risks of getting COVID-19, and risks of dying from the disease.
The impact of aspects like old age and certain health conditions on COVID-19 patients has been relatively well understood by scientists. But according to the report, the link between ethnicity and morbidity is more complex, stemming from various reasons such as an increased infection risk due to occupation patterns and geographic distribution as well as pre-existing conditions — such as cardiovascular diseases — being more prevalent among certain ethnic groups.
Such observations tend to support the conclusion that “once age, sex, obesity and comorbidities are taken into account, there is no difference in the likelihood of being admitted to intensive care or of dying between ethnic groups,” suggesting that its their living and health conditions that put some ethnic minorities at higher risk of dying from COVID-19.
The coronavirus pandemic has shone a spotlight on health inequalities in the U.K., with public health experts hoping the crisis will prompt the government to rethink its approach.
“This pandemic has exposed huge disparities in the health of our nation,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock told MPs on Tuesday following the reports publication. “It is very clear that some people are significantly more vulnerable to COVID-19 and this is something Im determined to understandRead More – Source
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