Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Fresh fears for the front-line NHS staff from BAME groups
BLACK people are almost twice as likely as white people to die from Covid-19 – even after taking into account other risk factors such as underlying health.
The finding raised fears for those from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who make up 44% of NHS medical staff.
It could mean some are withdrawn from the front line.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul of the British Medical Association said: “These figures add to the alarming trend among healthcare workers in which more than 90% of doctors who have died have come from a
BAME background. This is deeply worrying and highlights the importance of ensuring that urgent action is taken to protect members of the BAME community, those working on the front line, key workers, and indeed the wider community.”
Without adjusting for other risk factors, black people are four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people of the same age, figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal. People of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin are 3.5 times more at risk, the data shows,
COMEDIAN Jason Manford finally has a new job after being turned down as a
Tesco delivery driver.
He is now taking pensioners to appointments. The star, 38, was filmed as he waited to pick up Dorothy.
He joked: “Am I a friend of Dorothy? No, but I am now. We’ve had a good old chat, while those of Indian descent are 2.5 times more likely to die with the virus. But even taking into account other factors that could affect mortality, black men and women are 90% more likely to die from Covid19, and Bangladeshi and Pakistani men 80% more likely, the ONS found. A second study of 17.4 million NHS patient records by Oxford University found black people are twice as likely to die from coronavirus.
The two studies present the strongest global evidence to date
me and Dorothy on the way to the podiatrist. She’s lovely.” Teacher Andrew Wilson, from Stockport, Gtr Manchester, tweeted: “When Jason Manford turns up to pick up your neighbour for her appointment #hero.” Jason did not get the Tesco job because he may have missed the deadline. of possible genetic and lifestyle factors of who is most at risk.
Major risk factors included living in a deprived area, but other causes remain unclear. The ONS said: “Geographic and socio-economic factors were accounting for over half of the difference in risk between males and females of black and white ethnicity.
“However, these factors do not explain all of the difference, suggesting that other causes are still to be identified.”
It said some ethnic groups may be “over-represented in publicfacing occupations” and therefore more likely to be infected.
It now plans to study the possible