Ethnic minorities in England and Wales dying from coronavirus at higher rates than white peers, study suggests

Ethnic minorities in England and Wales are dying from coronavirus at far higher rates than their white peers, according to analysis by the London-based Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The study is likely to further heighten concerns about deaths in the UK’s minority black and Asian communities.

The think tank found that after eliminating age and geography, people from black African backgrounds were 3.7 times as likely to die in hospital from the disease than their white British counterparts.

Death rates for those from Pakistani backgrounds were 2.9 times higher than the white British group, while Bangladeshi fatalities were twice as high.

The report compared six groups — white other, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, black African and black Caribbean — to their white British peers.

According to the document, the excess deaths cannot be explained by differences in geography and demography alone — nor is it accounted for by non-hospital deaths.

Indian, black Caribbean and “other white” ethnic groups also had excess fatalities, though the difference with the white British group is smaller.

The figures echo data released from some US cities, where African Americans make up a disproportionately high proportion of coronavirus victims.

In Chicago, 72% of people who died were black, officials said in April, despite African Americans only making up 30% of the city’s population.

In Louisiana, African Americans make up 32% of the population, but account for around 70% of deaths.

The IFS said the British study highlighted “stark inequalities” between different ethnic groups in England and Wales.

“Once you take account of age and geography, most minority groups ‘should’ have fewer deaths per capita than the white British majority,” the report states.

“Black Africans and Pakistanis would be expected to have fewer fatalities per capita than white British but at present they are comparable.”

The think tank said several factors were causing the higher death rate, including increased exposure to the virus through work.

Among the factors at play is the significant over-representation of minority groups in key worker categories, which have a higher risk of infection.

“More than two in ten black African women of working age are employed in health and social care roles. Indian men are 150% more likely to work in health or social care roles than their white British counterparts. While the Indian ethnic group makes up 3% of the working-age population of England and Wales, they account for 14% of doctors,” the report said.

Experts have previously raised fears that long-term health inequalities could also be driving the higher death rates.

“We know through a government commissioned review that if you are poorer, have high rates of child poverty, have insecure work — all of those factors are linked to poor health outcomes,” Zubaida Haque, the deputy director of the race and equality think tank Runnymede Trust, previously told CNN.

The IFS report found that “underlying health conditions, occupational exposure, and a range of other factors are likely to be important” to understanding the excess deaths.

“At-risk underlying health conditions are especially prevalent among older Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and black Caribbeans,” the report states.

Minority groups are also more economically vulnerable to the virus, according to the think tank, due to working in sectors currently shut down in the UK, such as the restaurant and taxi industry,

The deaths of those in minority communities gained widespread public attention in April, after several UK health workers from diverse backgrounds died from coronavirus.

Questions on the issue were raised by British media. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at the time that he found the deaths “upsetting,” in an interview with the BBC.

The UK government has since ordered an inquiry into the issue.