United Kingdom: poor neighborhoods and ethnic minorities, the first victims of the coronavirus

The Covid-19 epidemic, a tragic revealer of social inequality. This observation, already tested in France with regard to the example of excess mortality in Seine-Saint-Denis, is also confirmed in England. There, the new coronavirus kills twice as much in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

"Mortality rates are normally higher in the most disadvantaged areas, but the Covid-19 seems to accentuate this even more," said Nick Stripe, analyst at the National Bureau of Statistics.

Studying the more than 20,000 Covid-19-related deaths that occurred between March 1 and April 17 in England and Wales, found that the death rate in the most deprived areas was 55.1 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. For comparison, this rate was 25.3 deaths per 100,000 in the least disadvantaged areas. The term less-favored area covers areas marked by higher unemployment and crime rates than elsewhere, but also by more difficult access to health, a key factor explaining this phenomenon.

Inevitably, populations with an immigrant background (directly or by descent) are also more affected by the Covid-19. Social inequalities are strongly correlated with ethnic markers. Studies by the Institute of Fiscal Studies , a London-based research institute, indicate that the number of deaths among the black and minority populations is much higher than among the whites. Per capita coronavirus deaths among the Caribbean population are three times higher than those of white Britons, according to this report.

Many immigrants among health personnel

Several explanations exist. This greater exposure to the virus is explained in particular by the over-representation of these populations in trades in contact with the public during confinement, and for whom teleworking is impossible. An observation already made in France.

Cashiers, garbage collectors, construction workers, bus drivers but also employees in the health sector ... "Our analysis indicates that 63% of health workers who died of coronavirus were black or from ethnic minorities", a said Tim Cook, professor of honorary anesthesia at the University of Bristol. Men of Pakistani origin are 90% more likely to work in the health sector than white British men. Although people of Indian descent make up only 3% of the working age population in England and Wales, they represent 14% of doctors.

Another underlying explanatory factor is the health problems underlying this combination of social factors: two-thirds of Bangladeshi people over the age of 60 suffer from a long-term illness that can put them at risk individuals in the event of coronavirus contamination.