BAME groups and deprived areas have disproportionately high death rates

PEOPLE from some ethnic minorities in Britain are dying in disproportionate numbers from Covid-19, possibly in part because they are more likely to work in healthcare and other sectors most exposed to the virus, a leading think tank said on Friday (30).

Per capita deaths for people in Britain who had black Caribbean heritage were three times that for British citizens who are white, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.

Per capita deaths among other black groups were double that of the population overall, while those of Indian descent also suffered more fatalities than average, the IFS said.

The hospital death rate among Black African and Pakistani communities in England was more than 2.5 times that of the white population. The black Caribbean population saw a 1.7 times higher death rate than white Britons.

Taking into account the fact that most minority groups are much younger on average than the white British population, per capita death rates across almost all minority groups looked disproportionately high.

Part of the extra death rate could be explained by ethnic minorities' higher likelihood to live in London or other cities hit hard by the virus, but geography was not the only factor.

"There is unlikely to be a single explanation here and different factors may be more important for different groups," Ross Warwick, a research economist at the IFS said.

"For instance, while Black Africans are particularly likely to be employed in key worker roles which might put them at risk, older Bangladeshis appear vulnerable on the basis of underlying health conditions."

The report noted that one-third of working-age Black Africans were engaged in key work duties, about 50 more compared with the White British population. Pakistani, Indian and Black African men were also more likely to work in healthcare than white British men by 90, 150 and 310 per cent, respectively.

The report also highlighted that two-thirds of Bangladeshi men over the age of 60 in Britain had pre-existing health conditions that made them more vulnerable to Covid-19 complications. A similar pattern was noticed among older members of Pakistani or Black Caribbean communities.

The IFS said people from ethnic minorities in Britain were more likely to be hit financially by the coronavirus shutdown.

"Bangladeshi men are four times as likely as white British men to have jobs in shutdown industries, with Pakistani men nearly three times as likely," Lucinda Platt, a London School of Economics professor who sits on an IFS inequalities panel, said.

Household savings were lower than average among people of black African, black Caribbean or Bangladeshi descent. Those of Indian heritage and the largely foreign-born 'other white' group did not seem to be facing extra economic risks, the IFS added.

Higher deprivation, higher deaths

Another analysis of data released on Friday showed how deaths from Covid-19 in deprived areas of England was more than double that found in well-off locations, with London by far the worst affected.

The data from the Office for National Statistics, which covered deaths from March 1 to April 17, found there had been 20,283 deaths from the coronavirus, equating to 36.2 deaths per 100,000 people.

The figures also showed that the mortality rate from Covid-19 in the most deprived areas of England was 55.1 deaths per 100,000, compared to 25.3 per 100,000 in the least deprived places.

"People living in more deprived areas have experienced Covid-19 mortality rates more than double those living in less deprived areas," said Nick Stripe, head of Health Analysis for the ONS.

"General mortality rates are normally higher in more deprived areas, but so far Covid-19 appears to be taking them higher still."

The mortality rate in London was far higher than any other region at 85.7 deaths per 100,000 persons, nearly double the next highest figure elsewhere.

The worst hit areas in the capital were the boroughs of Newham, Brent and Hackney, which are among the poorest. Newham's mortality rate was 1454.3 deaths per 100,000 population, the ONS said.