COVID-19 and BAME Communities
In today’s post, David Hildebrand from the Immigration Advice Service in the UK breaks down some of the reasons why people from BAME communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
On 25th May 2020 George Floyd died in police custody. At the time of writing this article the white police officer, Derek Chauvin, has been charged with 2nd degree murder as well as second-degree manslaughter. The other accompanying officers have been charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder. These events have caused a ripple to spread over the globe, igniting protests surrounding justice and inequality that BAME communities face every day.
The kind of discrimination and injustice which African Americans face is not an “American problem” and COVID-19 has shown this most saliently. It is with much sadness and with little surprise that, according to Public Health England (PHE), people from BAME backgrounds face a much higher risk of dying to COVID-19 than white Britons, with those of Bangladeshi heritage being the highest. Bangladeshis are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white Britons.
However, whilst the report breaks down the statistics it has been criticised for not explaining the wide disparities or offering any solutions or suggestions. To me, it is indicative of the socioeconomic discrimination that BAME communities have faced for decades.
Age has a major bearing on COVID-19 outcomes- the older a person is, the more vulnerable they are to the disease. However, BAME groups have much younger age profiles than the white British majority- just 6% of Pakistanis and 4% of black Africans are over the age of 60, in comparison with 25% of the white British population. With this in mind, age cannot be seen as a contributing factor towards the disproportionate numbers of BAME deaths, suggesting that other more sinister factors play a part.
Region of residence is also hugely relevant. The effects of COVID-19 have not been evenly distributed across the country, with large urban areas such as London and Birmingham being hit particularly hard. BAME groups are disproportionately likely to reside in large cities such as these- London alone is home to 60% of England and Wales’ black population. The clustering of BAME groups in densely populated areas with high numbers of confirmed cases has almost certainly played a role in the excess numbers of deaths.
BAME communities are also more likely to live in housing situations that contribute further to the spread of COVID-19. Fewer than 2% of white British households in London have more residents than rooms; in contrast, this figure is just under 30% for Bangladeshi households, 18% for Pakistani households and 16% for black African households.
One of the PHE report’s major findings is that people who live in deprived areas have higher diagnosis rates and death rates than those living in less deprived areas. Yet this social gradient has in fact been visible ever since the pandemic first took hold in the UK, with the most deprived nearly twice as likely as the least deprived to be admitted to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). What the report fails to address is that, according to government statistics, all ethnic minority groups (except the Indian group) are more likely than the white British group to live in the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods in England. With this in mind, deprivation has likely been a pivotal fact in the disproportionate numbers of BAME deaths.
Certain BAME groups are also notably more likely to suffer from some of the underlying health conditions that leave a person vulnerable to COVID-19. For example, black and south Asian groups have been found to have much higher rates of diabetes than the population as a whole. Twenty one percent of death certificates where COVID-19 was the cause of death also mentioned diabetes. This was mentioned in 45% of death certificates for black individuals, and 43% for Asian death certificates.
However, when considering the high proportion of BAME individuals living in destitute conditions, often unable to access or afford proper nutrition due to the aforementioned factors, it is not unreasonable to point to how systematic racism has played a part in denying those who suffer from these diseases the ability to effectively combat and limit their effects.
So far, the percentage of health care worker deaths are not disproportionately large compared to other areas of the workforce considering their close contact to COVID-19. However, 21% of our medical staff come from a BAME background, yet these same BAME medical staff have accounted for 95% of medical staff deaths in some medical professions.
The early deaths of Dr Habib Zaidi, Adil El Tayar, Amged El-Hawrani alerted us to the apparent vulnerability of BAME individuals to COVID-19. Yet, we do not seem to be able to conclusively answer why BAME medical staff make up such a high proportion of deaths. There are certain key factors to consider such as that BAME workers are more likely to be in less senior positions and lower paid jobs, as well as concerns over access to PPE in the NHS generally.
Evidently, BAME communities have been left behind, and as the UK turns to face its colonial past whilst in the grips of this pandemic, it is vital that we rectify this injustice once and for all.
Content Moderator: Jeremiah Brown