New data shows “shocking” impact of Covid on BAME communities, says Labour

Marsha de Cordova has said that the new figures released by the Office for National Statistics “reveal the shocking scale of the impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities”.

Responding to data released by the body today, the Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary declared that the disparities in the impact of the virus on different groups “can no longer be ignored”.

In its findings, the UK statistical authority said that the risk of death from coronavirus is “significantly higher” among some ethnic groups than for those of white ethnicity.

And while the organisation has said that some of this can be explained by deprivation and other factors, there is a remaining part of the difference in risk that has not yet been explained.

Commenting on the statistical release, Cordova said: “These figures once again reveal the shocking scale of the impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities, and in particular on black African and Caribbean men and women.

The data published this morning shows that black men are 4.2 times more likely to die from the virus than their white counterparts, while black women are 4.3 times more likely to die than white women.

With health factors and deprivation taken into account, black people are still 1.9 times more likely to die than those in the white ethnic group. Those of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnicity are also at increased risk.

Cordova added: “This crisis has exposed and amplified economic, social and health injustices in our society. These underlying inequalities can no longer be ignored. The government must do all it can to protect all those who are affected by this virus.”

The Labour equalities spokesperson welcomed a review into the impact of the virus on BAME communities announced by the government last month. Labour launched its own inquiry shortly afterwards.

The report released by the ONS today compared deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate by age, sex and ethnic group using census and mortality records registered up to April 2020.

The body has also released an overall figure for the number of coronavirus deaths in England and Wales up to May 2nd that, when combined with the official Covid-19 deaths data from Scotland and Northern Ireland, gave a UK total of 32,313.

This differs to the daily number published by Public Health England, which today reported 30,076 deaths. The total who have tested positive in the country is now 201,101 – but with low levels of testing the figure is thought to be much higher.