Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Study: Ethnically diverse areas in England suffer four times more Covid-19 infections than white neighbourhoods

A STUDY has found out that some of England’s most ethnically diverse areas have suffered up to four times more coronavirus infections than mostly white neighbourhoods.

There has been huge disparities in the effect of Covid-19 on residents living alongside one another, with densely packed black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities bearing the brunt of the pandemic, The Guardian study of 10 worst-hit council areas revealed.


According to the study, one in 10 people have had the virus in Bastwell, where 85.7 per cent of residents come from a BAME background, four times higher than the rural Tockholes village, which is just five miles away where only 2 per cent of people are non-white.

The data, published by Public Health England and running to 25 November, reveals that the huge disparities in Blackburn with Darwen are repeated across the north-west of England and West Yorkshire.

In Oldham, infection rates vary from 10.1  to 3.5 per cent in 100 depending on deprivation, ethnicity and average earnings; in Bradford, from 9.3 per cent to 1.5 per cent; and in Manchester, from 15.4 per cent to 3.3 per cent in 100.

More than 300 neighbourhoods comprising nearly 2.7 million people in England’s 10 local authorities with the highest infection rates, almost all of which are post-industrial towns in the north-west, it said.

Besides, in these 10 worst-hit councils, the 26 areas with a majority of BAME residents and an average salary of below £25,000 had experienced 7.1 cases per 100 people. This is almost double the average rate in the 22 mostly white areas where most people earn more than £35,000 a year.

Responding to the study, Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service and chair of the 2070 commission into city and regional inequalities in the UK, has urged the government for an urgent examination of the issues of how Covid has impacted on inequality, particularly on the delivery of the 'levelling up agenda'.

Experts said that residents from a BAME background are more likely to live in cramped housing with several generations under one roof, working in public-facing jobs in healthcare, hospitality or warehouses, and are more likely to use public transport, which increase their exposure to Covid-19.

"The government needed to invest not only in infrastructure but also skills and combating deprivation, and properly fund local authorities to rebuild public health capacity. The one thing that left us much more vulnerable to this pandemic it has been the denuding of resources for public health and local authorities," Lord Kerslake told The Guardian.

Tim Elwell-Sutton, an assistant director of the Health Foundation, said that the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BAME communities is a consequence of structural racism and could have been predicted.

According to Prof Dominic Harrison, the director of public health at Blackburn with Darwen council, residents and businesses in the area urgently need more financial help from the Treasury.

"More deprived areas to be prioritised for the vaccine when it is rolled out more widely early next year. A longer-term plan to move new middle class jobs to struggling northern towns post-Brexit is also needed," he added.

More For You

MIT-Anantha_Chandrakasan

Chandrakasan was selected from a group of internal candidates, MIT president Sally Kornbluth said in a statement announcing the appointment. (Photo credit: MIT)

MIT

Prof Chandrakasan becomes MIT's first Indian-American provost

PROF ANANTHA CHANDRAKASAN has been appointed as the new provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), becoming the first Indian-American to take on the role. Currently serving as MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer and dean of engineering, Chandrakasan will assume his new position on July 1.

Chandrakasan was selected from a group of internal candidates, MIT president Sally Kornbluth said in a statement announcing the appointment. She said he brings an exceptional record of innovation and leadership to the position.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India cancels London flight over aircraft unavailability

The flight was scheduled to depart on Tuesday afternoon. (Photo: Air India)

Air India cancels London flight over aircraft unavailability

AIR INDIA’s flight from Ahmedabad to London, operating under a new code following the June 12 crash, was cancelled on Tuesday (17) due to the unavailability of an aircraft. The airline cited airspace restrictions and precautionary checks as the cause.

The service, now listed as flight AI-159, replaced the earlier AI-171 flight which crashed shortly after take-off last Thursday (12), killing 270 people, including 29 on the ground. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had 242 passengers and crew on board, with only one survivor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Conference highlights religious persecution in Bangladesh and Baluchistan

Conference at Westminster Highlights Religious Persecution in Bangladesh and Baluchistan

Conference highlights religious persecution in Bangladesh and Baluchistan

A high-profile conference on religious freedom in Bangladesh and Baluchistan was held at Portcullis House, Westminster, organised by the Dharmic Ideas & Policy Foundation (DIPF), hosted by Bob Blackman MP (Harrow East), and supported by APPG leaders on Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB), including Richard James Shannon MP and Julie Jones on 9 June 2025.

Chairing the conference, Mr Blackman condemned the ongoing persecution of minorities in both regions, describing the situation as dire and deteriorating.

Keep ReadingShow less
abortion protests

Protesters hold up placards during a march through central London on June 17, 2023, to call for decriminalisation of abortion. (Photo: Getty Images)

Parliament to vote on abortion law reform for Women

MPs are expected to vote on Tuesday on a proposed change to abortion laws in England and Wales that would prevent women from being prosecuted for ending their own pregnancies.

Under current law, women can face criminal charges for terminating a pregnancy beyond 24 weeks or without the approval of two doctors. The law still carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK heatwave

The spike in temperature is due to a period of high pressure currently centred over the UK

iStock

UK weather forecast says heatwave is coming and it could last for days

Britons are set to enjoy a burst of summer sunshine as forecasters predict a heatwave over the weekend, with temperatures expected to rise higher than those in parts of southern Europe. The Met Office anticipates that the UK could experience its hottest days of the year so far, with the south-east likely to be the warmest region.

Temperatures to reach 32°C in parts of the UK

According to the latest weather forecast heatwave predictions, temperatures could peak at 32°C on Saturday, 21 June, and Sunday, 22 June in areas including London and Kent. These highs would surpass conditions in traditional holiday destinations such as Portugal and southern France.

Keep ReadingShow less