Black Brits FOUR TIMES as likely to die from coronavirus as white people, shocking new figures reveal

BLACK Brits are FOUR TIMES as likely to die from coronavirus as white people, shocking new figures revealed today.

Bangladeshi and Pakistani people are more than 50 per cent more likely to die from the virus as white people - with people of Indian and mixed heritage also more at risk.

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The stark difference is partly down to black, Asian and minority ethnic people being more likely to live in poor areas and do jobs that put them at risk.

But even when those factors are taken into account, black Brits are still twice as likely as white ones to die of the disease.

Nick Stripe, Head of Health Analysis, Office for National Statistics told BBC: "The risk is significantly higher for some of those ethnic groupings compared to the white ethnic grouping.”

It comes as...

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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) warned that while ethnic groups were at risk often because they lived in poorer areas or had health risk factors like diabetes, they added: "A remaining part of the difference has not yet been explained."

Mr Stripe added: "Your risk of being infected, for example, may be affected by the type of occupation you work in or indeed the type of occupation members of your household work in.

"It could be the case that some ethnic groups are more likely to be in public-facing occupations.

"Another thing we’d like to look at is people with underlying health issues.

"So it may be the case that certain ethnic groupings of certain ages are more likely to have heart disease or diabetes, obesity, asthma, etc.

"We’d like to be able to see how much of that difference that we have now got left might be explained by some of these other factors."

According to the new figures, 83.8 per cent of deaths occurred among white ethnicities while 6 per cent of deaths were black people.

Men and people aged over 65-years-old are also particularly at risk across all ethnic groups.

Men and woman across all ethnic minorities were more at risk from coronavirus, except for Chinese woman.

The ONS will now investigate occupations that are "particularly at risk".

RED FLAG

Dr Bharat Pankhania, Exeter University's communicable disease and public health expert said it was a "great big red flag" - calling on something to be done to address the issue.

He said: ";I think it is a combination of all of them, without a doubt.

"There is geography, meaning if you live in a deprived place, you are less likely to be able to sit at home and do your work by Zoom.

"Whereas, you’d have to be a taxi driver, bus driver or train driver and if you work in a crowded place, you have more chance of getting infected.

"And then on top of that, the Asians and others do carry an added risk which is diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease, so all those things put together, we identify they are probably at a slightly extra risk."

He added: "Now that this information is available and it is clearly indicating that there is an extra risk, we’ve got to act immediately, meaning today."

It comes after a probe into how factors such as ethnicity and obesity can affect vulnerability to Covid-19 has been ordered by the Health Secretary this week.

Speaking at the Downing Street press conference today, Dominic Raab said the government was awaiting Public Health England's advice before making any interventions.

Matt Hancock previously said he wanted to understand just why deaths among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups had appeared to become disproportionately high.

There have been particular fears for NHS workers from BAME backgrounds after suggestions they could be at greater risk of the bug.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press briefing on Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "We recognise that there has been a disproportionately high number of people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds who have passed away especially among care workers and those in the NHS."

And deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam, who said people would have noticed he was from an "ethnic minority group", added that the issue was being taken "incredibly seriously".

He vowed: "We will get to the bottom of this however long it takes us."

Previous figures suggested the deadly bug has killed 33 white people per 100,000 in English hospitals but 89 per 100,000 of black Caribbean descent, according to the NHS England.

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said the figures showing black people were at greater risk of death from the bug were "appalling".

He tweeted: "It is urgent the causes of this disproportionality are investigated. Action must be taken to protect black men and women - as well as people from all backgrounds - from the virus."

A letter from NHS England has previously urged health trusts to "risk-assess" BAME workers and make "appropriate arrangements" which could include moving those from ethnic minority backgrounds away from the front line to non-patient facing roles.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said Public Health England had been asked by the Department for Health and Social Care to look into the issue.

He added: "In advance of their report and guidance, on a precautionary basis we recommend employers should risk assess staff at a potentially greater risk and make appropriate arrangements accordingly."

And coronavirus is killing twice as many people in poor areas as in rich ones, shock figures released earlier this month revealed.

BAME workers who have tragically passed away from coronavirus include 68-year-old care home nurse Rahima Bibi Sidhanee.

Michael Allieu also passed away earlier this month at Homerton university hospital in East London.

The first ten doctors in the UK to die from coronavirus were also all of BAME background, with many born overseas.

They included Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, who died three weeks after writing to the Prime Minister asking him to "urgently" ensure PPE was available for "each and every NHS worker in the UK."

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