Coronavirus: Recent IFS Report Shows Black Communities Are At Higher COVID-19 Related Risk

Coronavirus knows no religious faith or economic disparity. But, does it differentiate between races? A recent study suggests that individuals of color—those from black, Asian, and BAME (minority ethnic) communities—are at a higher risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.

The findings of a research state that the risk of COVID-19 related deaths among black African groups was gnawingly large -- triple times higher -- as compared to the others. For instance, the alarming trend was witnessed when a rather shocking death ratio of black and white frontline workers came to light. Only one white doctor’s life was lost, as opposed to 22 doctors of color who died from the highly contagious virus.

A report released by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank shed light on how there was a need to protect Black and Asian Britons more, as these were the communities that were two and a half times more likely to lose lives upon being tested positive. The report drew comparisons in the number of hospital deaths that occurred in NHS during the pandemic.

The data in the IFS report has called for a government inquiry as well, with Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch stressing upon how the impact of the virus on the BAME communities was becoming a cause of concern in the government.

“Rather than being an equalizer, this work shows that mortality with Covid-19 is disproportionately higher in black, Asian and minority ethnic groups,” said Dr. Delan Devakumar, of the UCL Institute for Global Health as per a media outlet. “It is essential to tackle the underlying social and economic risk factors and barriers to healthcare that lead to these unjust deaths,” he added.

Some of the main pointers in the report included how the key workers belonged to the minority’s community while indicating that hospital workers are at a much higher risk owing to their repeated and prolonged exposure to diseased individuals. One-third of the Black Africans who are within the working age are employed in the medical industry.

However, there’s still a lot of ambiguity in this regard as the report maintained that it would be difficult to zero in on one particular explanation that could attribute to the high fatality rate.