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Ethnicity recorded on death certificates for first time to give ‘complete picture’ of coronavirus

Thomas Harvey, a healthcare assistant at North East London NHS Foundation Trust, had been unable to eat for several days and struggled to breathe after catching COVID-19 -  Sky News
Thomas Harvey, a healthcare assistant at North East London NHS Foundation Trust, had been unable to eat for several days and struggled to breathe after catching COVID-19 - Sky News
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter ..
Coronavirus Article Bar with counter ..

Death certificates will record ethnicity to establish a "complete picture" of the impact of coronavirus ethnic minorities, the equalities minister has announced.

The government published its first quarterly report on progress to address Covid-19 health inequalities today, as the Minister for Equalities also made a series of recommendations to help gather data on coronavirus and BAME communities, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted.

These 13 recommendations include mandatory recording of ethnicity as part of the death certification process “as this is the only way of establishing a complete picture of the impact of the virus on ethnic minorities”.

The report said that this would involve making ethnicity a mandatory question for healthcare professionals to ask of patients.

They would then transfer that ethnicity data to a new, digitised Medical Certificate Cause of Death which can then inform the mortality figures published by the Office for National Statistics.

The Minister for Equalities, Kemi Badenoch MP, is today providing the first quarterly report to the Prime Minister and Health Secretary on progress to understand and tackle Covid-19 disparities experienced by individuals from an ethnic minority background.

She said: “Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we have prioritised protecting the most vulnerable in our society.

“Access to the latest public health information and protections should be available to everyone. To ensure that is the case we have invested in a strong package of measures to target messaging, develop the data we have available and make sure everyone is as safe as possible at home or in the workplace.

“Today’s report marks an important first step in our journey to understand and tackle the disproportionate impact of Covid. I remain committed to doing everything possible to beat back this virus.”

The announcement comes after earlier this week the government was urged to do more to protect ethnic minorities from the dangers of a second wave of Covid-19 in a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Runnymede Trust.

Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities have been disproportionately impacted by coronavirus, with black and south Asian patients have been found to be 55 and 35 per cent, respectively, more likely to need resuscitation or very urgent care than white patients in A&E during the pandemic.

Black people are four times more likely to die of coronavirus than white people
Black people are four times more likely to die of coronavirus than white people

The Minister will also announce in a statement today a number of new measures which the government is taking to protect those at risk, gather more data on the impact of the virus and to ensure that everyone can access the latest public health messaging.

Amongst the new measures set out are: a new £25 million ‘Community Champions’ scheme, that will provide funding to enhance existing communication strategies in the most at risk places, and fund work with grassroots advocates from impacted communities.

The scheme will also provide funding for voluntary and community groups who specialise in working with communities most at risk from Covid-19.

Ms Badenoch will also announce an enhancement of the national Shielded Patients List to account for the increase in understanding of the risk factors related to the virus and the drivers of disparities, as well as the new mandate for ethnicity to be recorded as part of the death certification process.