Disabled and dying from Covid 19

The group make up the majority of people who have died from the virus

PEOPLE with disabilities are twice as likely to die from coronavirus than those without. Analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found disabled people in England and Wales made up almost six in 10 deaths involving Covid-19 between March 2 and July 14 (59%).

In comparison, disabled people only make up around 16% of the overall population.

After adjustments for region, population density, household and socio-demographic characteristics for those whose impairments limit them a lot, the analysis showed disabled women were 2.4 times more likely to die of the virus, and disabled men were twice as likely to die of the virus.

Disability Rights UK’S Kamran Mallick said: “We are neither shocked nor surprised at these figures. Disabled people and their families have been telling us for months of the disproportionate impacts of the virus upon their lives.

“A catalogue of neglect has built up from the start of the outbreak which has led to these shocking figures.

“The misapplication of Do Not Resuscitate notices, the lack of social care available for those who live independently, the returning of infected residents to care homes where their fellow residents had no escape from infection, the lack of PPE and testing, and the lack of infrastructure to allow food and medicine to be delivered to those forced to shield at the start of lockdown, all show the neglect of disabled people by those with the power and authority to protect us.”

The ONS analysis is based on selfreported disability status, as collected in the 2011 Census in England and Wales - those people who said their day-to-day activities were limited a little or a lot by disability or a health problem.

As such it only covers people aged nine and over, and people’s situations may have changed since 2011.

Among both men and women, those who were limited a lot had a significantly higher agestandardised rate of death involving Covid-19 than disabled people who were limited a little.

Disabled men whose activities were limited a lot saw a rate of 240.8 deaths per 100,000, while for disabled women, the rate was 169.9 deaths per 100,000.

For disabled men who were limited a little, the rate was 150.1 deaths per 100,000, with a rate of 85.7 per 100,000 for disabled women who said they were limited a little.

The equivalent rates for men and women who were non-disabled in 2011 were 84.2 and 44.4 deaths per 100,000 respectively.