Covid-19 BAME review “presents no recommendations”, says Labour

Labour has criticised the Public Health England report into the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities for its failure to present any recommendations.

The findings published this afternoon examine the impact of the virus across different groups within the population – exploring disparities by age, sex, geography, deprivation, ethnicity, occupation and pre-existing health conditions.

Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Marsha de Cordova expressed frustration that the report contained no recommendations and said that “when it comes to the question of how we reduce these disparities, it is notably silent”.

Commenting on the findings, de Cordova said: “This review confirms what we already knew – that racial and health inequalities amplify the risks of Covid-19. Those in the poorest households and people of colour are disproportionately impacted.”

The report shows that age is the biggest risk factor in relation to Covid-19, but it also reveals that people from black and Asian ethnic groups are twice as likely to die from Covid-19 than those from a white British background.

Those from Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, Caribbean and other black ethnicities had between a 10% and 50% higher risk of death. In terms of deaths per 100,000 population, black groups had the most – 485 in women and 224 in men.

She added: “When it comes to the question of how we reduce these disparities, it is notably silent. It presents no recommendations. Having the information is a start – but now is the time for action.

“The government must not wait any longer to mitigate the risks faced by these communities and must act immediately to protect BAME people so that no more lives are lost.”

The terms of reference for the review, published in May, state that one of the objectives of the process was to “suggest recommendations for further action that should be taken to reduce disparities in risk and outcomes from Covid-19”.

Discussing the findings in parliament, Matt Hancock said that coming from a non-white background is a “major risk factor”. He added that the disparity “holds even after accounting for the effect of age, deprivation, region and sex”.

The Health Secretary announced that the government would be conducting a further review into why BAME people are disproportionately impacted by coronavirus, to be headed up by Liz Truss and working with PHE.

The report also found that the impact of the virus has varied significantly in terms of geography, with local authorities in London having a death rate three times that of those in the lowest region – the South West.

Among those who tested positive for coronavirus, when compared with those under 40, people who were 80 or older were seventy times more likely to die than their younger counterparts.

Sex was another disparity in risk analysed, with the review showing that working age men diagnosed with Covid-19 were twice as likely as women to die.

The report states that “people who live in deprived areas have higher diagnosis rates and death rates than those living in less deprived areas” and that this is “greater than the inequality in mortality rates seen in recent years”.

On coronavirus-related deaths in the care sector, it reports that “there have been 2.3 times the number of deaths in care homes than expected between March 20th and May 7th when compared to previous years”.