BME People more likely to die from COVID-19

SAMEC trust recognises that BME groups are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.

Underlying conditions heighten these risks which can reduce people’s ability to recover from Covid-19

The SAMEC Trust will be contributing to research and insights in to these statistics and on 16 April the Government announced a formal review, by Public Health England, into these higher death rates.

From a practical point of view we are running specific campaigns to raise awareness across all communities

We also recognise that lockdowns and self isolation impacts on day to day living patterns. Intergenerational living has meant changes – and we should all ensure that government messages are followed.

Here are the findings of official research which only reinforces the need for more research and The SAMEC Trust will be contributing to this emergency, sharing our insights with communities and policy makers and providing a helping hand and resources.

The ONS Research Paper  Coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths by ethnic group, England and Wales: 2 March 2020 to 10 April 2020 revealed

1. The risk of death involving the coronavirus (COVID-19) among some ethnic groups is significantly higher than that of those of White ethnicity.
2. When taking into account age in the analysis, Black males are 4.2 times more likely to die from a COVID-19-related death and Black females are 4.3 times more likely than White ethnicity males and females.
3. People of Bangladeshi and Pakistani, Indian, and Mixed ethnicities also had statistically significant raised risk of death involving COVID-19 compared with those of White ethnicity.
4. After taking account of age and other socio-demographic characteristics and measures of self-reported health and disability at the 2011 Census, the risk of a COVID-19-related death for males and females of Black ethnicity reduced to 1.9 times more likely than those of White ethnicity.
5. Similarly, males in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic group were 1.8 times more likely to have a COVID-19-related death than White males when age and other socio-demographic characteristics and measures of self-reported health and disability were taken into account; for females, the figure was 1.6 times more likely.