MORNING SERIAL
DURING the first wave, Coronavirus killed a far higher proportion of BAME people in Wales than white people. Analysis for the period March 2 to May 15 2020 shows that, after taking into account size and age structure of the population, the number of deaths involving Covid-19 was highest among males of black ethnic background at 256 deaths per 100,000 population and lowest among males of white ethnic background at 871. Data for admission to critical care in Wales found 12.8% were from BAME backgrounds.
When compared to the population of Wales there was a higher proportion of people from Asian and other ethnic backgrounds admitted to critical care with Covid.
It was an issue that quickly began to emerge during the crisis and when combined with the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protest, it became one of the defining themes of the entire first wave of the Covid pandemic. But as with other problems that emerged during the crisis, such as care home deaths, it is impossible to effectively analyse the impact of the virus on BAME people without first understanding the context.
To get to the heart of this story we need to look at the statistics surrounding BAME people in Wales. As I have demonstrated several times during the book, the problem with telling stories about human beings using stats is that numbers are inherently dehumanising.
This is not really about X number of people of colour living in poverty it is about the first generation migrant, who can’t speak English or Welsh, is unable to access services he/she is entitled to, therefore lives in an overcrowded house, has poor quality food, and whose poverty means that he or she is more likely to die before their time because of this disease. That is the story. But in order to see the bigger picture these statistics must be investigated, always keeping in the forefront of our mind that big numbers should multiply revulsion, sadness and desire to change – not diminish it.