Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities living in the United Kingdom are two to three times more likely to die from the new coronavirus than the average, according to a study published Thursday which adds to other publications in this direction. . The analysis was carried out by University College London using official data issued by the British health authorities.
"This work shows that, far from striking in an egalitarian manner, the Covid-19 is disproportionately more deadly" for minorities, explained one of the co-authors, Delan Devakumar, deeming "essential to tackle social factors, and the barriers to accessing healthcare that lead to these unjust deaths ” . University researchers focused on patients who tested positive for the virus and died in English hospitals between March 1 and April 21, according to the British Public Health Service (NHS). Analysis of this data has shown that the risk of dying from the virus is "two to three times higher" for black, Asian or other ethnic minorities than for the general population.
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For example, a person of Pakistani origin is 3.29 times more likely to die than the average, slightly more than a person of African origin (3.24 times more likely). Bangladeshi communities are also very affected (2.41 times more risk), as are those from the Caribbean (2.21 times more risk). Indians are 1.7 times more likely to die than the average. Conversely, the researchers found by analyzing the 16,271 deaths recorded over the period - for which ethnicity data was missing in 10% of cases - that the white population was less likely than the average to die from Covid- 19 in England.
UCL's research follows other similar British studies. The British National Bureau of Statistics had thus shown in early May that the new coronavirus killed twice as much in the underprivileged areas of England, generally more populated by ethnic minorities. Another study by the Institute for Tax Studies (IFS), published the same day, had already noted that ethnic minorities die more than white populations in hospital.