Coronavirus: Black and Asian ethnic groups up to twice as likely to die with COVID-19, says Public Health England

People from black and Asian ethnic groups are up to twice as likely to die with COVID-19 than those from a white British background, according to a Public Health England report.

People of Bangladeshi ethnicity were found to have around twice the risk of death.

Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Other Asian, Caribbean and Other Black ethnicities had between 10 and 50% greater risk of dying.

The highest diagnosis rate per 100,000 population was in black ethnic groups (486 in females and 649 in males) and the lowest in white ethnic groups (220 in females and 224 in males).

The report said its findings confirm "the impact of COVID-19 has replicated existing health inequalities and, in some cases, has increased them".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said coming from a non-white background was a "major risk factor" when it comes to the pandemic.

He welcomed the report and told the Commons: "Black lives matter - as do those of the poorest areas of our country, which have worse health outcomes."

Mr Hancock said action was needed to "level up" the situation.

The report's deaths analysis of people in BAME groups accounts for the effects of sex, age, deprivation and region.

However, it does not include the effects of underlying health conditions and obesity.

Public Health England (PHE) said there is evidence that when these are included "the difference in risk of death among hospitalised patients is greatly reduced".

A person's job was also not factored into the PHE analysis, which the report said was an "important shortcoming".

"Occupation is associated with risk of being exposed to COVID-19 and we know some key occupations have a high proportion of workers from BAME groups," said the authors.

Analysis: BAME community angry that no direct action is set out to protect lives

By Inzamam Rashid, Sky correspondent

This report's data was due to take into account adjustments for obesity, underlying health conditions and occupation, but it didn't and this is concerning because it doesn't give us the full and true impact of COVID-19 on this community.

The terms of reference published by Public Health England highlighted that this review would also offer some form of recommendations to the government "to reduce disparities in risk outcomes from COVID-19 on the population".

The review has failed to offer those recommendations and speaking to people in the BAME community, they are angry that no direct action or concrete steps are set out to protect lives.

On 7 May, Sky News political editor Beth Rigby asked the foreign secretary in the Downing Street press briefing whether BAME people should be shielding because ONS data suggested people from this community are up to twice as likely to die from COVID-19.

The response from Dominic Raab at the time was "no" and that we should "wait until the review is published".

Questions now need to be asked about why action, like shielding for these vulnerable people, wasn't implemented when this data was prevalent.

The report follows Sky News analysis at the peak of the pandemic which found nearly three quarters of all NHS and social care staff who died with coronavirus were from a BAME background.

The relationship between ethnicity and health is "complex and likely to be the result of a combination of factors", said the report.

It said BAME groups were likely to be at increased risk of infection because they are more likely to live in urban areas, in crowded households, in deprived areas, and in jobs that expose them to higher risk.

It said they were also more likely to have been born abroad and therefore could experience cultural or language barriers in accessing services.

There is also a greater risk when people from BAME communities become infected.

"Some co-morbidities which increase the risk of poorer outcomes from COVID-19 are more common among certain ethnic groups," said the report.

It said people from Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds have higher rates of cardiovascular disease, while black people have higher rates of hypertension.

"Data from the National Diabetes Audit suggests that type II diabetes prevalence is higher in people from BAME communities," added the report's authors.

Aside from ethnicity, the study found age was the largest disparity factor when it comes to risk and outcomes associated with COVID-19.

:: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

People aged over 80 were seventy times more likely to die than those under 40.

Risk of death was also higher in males than females, with working age males diagnosed with COVID-19 twice as likely to die.

Those living in urban and deprived areas also were at greater risk.

Death rates in London were more than three times higher than in the region with the lowest rates, the South West.

And the chance of dying with the disease in the most deprived areas was more than double than in the least deprived.

It comes as the latest fatality figures in a 24-hour period in the home nations showed:

:: Another 143 people have died with COVID-19 in hospitals in England, taking the total to 26,865.

:: In Scotland, there have been 12 more deaths, with the overall tally now 2,375.

:: Seven more people diagnosed with coronavirus have died in Wales, with the total standing at 1,354.

:: There were two more coronavirus-related deaths in Northern Ireland, bringing the total there to 526.

This week until Thursday, Dermot Murnaghan will be hosting After the Pandemic: Our New World - a series of special live programmes about what our world will be like once the pandemic is over.

We'll be joined by some of the biggest names from the worlds of culture, politics, economics, science and technology. And you can take part too.

If you'd like to be in our virtual audience - from your own home - and put questions to the experts, email afterthepandemic@sky.uk