‘There’s pride among BAME workers on frontline, but price is high’

ARACE equality campaigner said he sensed a feeling of pride among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in working on the coronavirus frontline.

But Taha Idris, former chief executive of Swansea Bay Regional Equality Council, said it came at a price.

A pictured emerged of the disproportionate effect on BAME groups within days of the outbreak in Wales and the UK as families released photographs of loved ones who had died with Covid-19. That picture has solidified as further data and evidence has been gathered.

Mr Idris, of Swansea, said: “Once this is all over, we are going to be counting the cost and asking, ‘How did it happen?’.

“There is a sense of pride for BAME groups that they are helping to combat the coronavirus on the frontlines. But with that pride comes a cost, and that cost is high.

“The much higher numbers of [BAME] people who are being affected goes on to show another story.”

A week ago the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the risk of death among some ethnic groups – particularly black people – was “significantly higher” than those of white ethnicity.

It said the data for England and Wales for registered deaths up to April 17 showed the difference between ethnic groups in Covid-19 mortality was partly a result of socioeconomic disadvantage and other circumstances, but that a remaining part of the difference had not been explained.

The ONS report came a week after the Welsh Government set up an expert group to look into the disproportionate impact on BAME communities in Wales, which is being led by Judge Ray Singh, of Neath.

Separate ONS data grouping mortality with occupation has revealed far higher than average death rates among security guards, taxi drivers, chefs and bus drivers. And social care workers, said the ONS, were more likely to die than doctors, consultants and nurses.

Farhan Husain has been a consultant anaesthetist for Swansea Bay University Health Board since 2008.

His shift patterns have changed at the cardiac department at Morriston Hospital, where he’s based. He is now on call for 24 hours, one day in every four.

“The normal day-to-day work has gone,” he said.

Emergency cases, and other procedures where the outcome may otherwise be dire, continue.

Dr Husain, who grew up in India and came to the UK in 2000, except for a short spell in Canada in 2006, said he wanted to see more evidence behind the relationship between the coronavirus and its impact on BAME groups.

“It has to be science-driven,” he said.

“The causal link has to be proved. And the socioeconomic factors have to be teased out. There are so many variables.”

Dr Husain said he was in pretty good health, and didn’t feel unusually anxious about going to work.

“I’m fortunate to be helping on the frontline,” said the 47-year-old.

“You don’t hear soldiers complaining in a war. If you were to lay down your life – not that I want to – you did something to help someone.”

Dr Husain said he takes extra precautions when he returns from work to his home in Sketty, Swansea, where he lives with his wife and two children. He said he puts his clothes and shoes under a sterilising ultraviolet lamp, and then washes his clothes.

“It is a bit cumbersome,” he said. Dr Husain said he would like to see the huge goodwill towards the NHS translated into policy changes.

“I think a lot of people took the NHS for granted,” he said.

“The NHS is a very special thing to have – it needs to be protected.”

He said sourcing the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) had required some creative thinking at times.

“Among our group we are pretty much sorted now,” he said.

“I want to go to work, but I don’t want to expose myself unnecessarily.”

Dr Husain believes the coronavirus is going to be with us for a while, and urged people not to be complacent when lockdown measures are eased.

“I would think that people have to be very careful for the next six months,” he said.

Looking ahead, Dr Husain said he didn’t think his children would have access to the cheap flights that have transformed air travel over recent decades, but said maybe this is not all bad.

“The things you think of as your stress relievers will have to be different now,” he said.

Kemba Hadaway-Morgan works in Swansea council’s care home quality team, which normally involves daily visits to nursing and residential homes.

“It’s a busy, busy job,” she said. “Placing your mum, dad, nan or granddad in a home is a very difficult decision.”

She said if that relative has dementia, it can feel like an “ongoing bereavement”.

She added: “We are constantly monitoring and reviewing their care, making sure it’s right and making sure their rights are not infringed unless it really can be justified. It’s extremely rewarding and something I’m extremely passionate about.”

Now Mrs Hadaway-Morgan’s work is done remotely, to minimise the risk of the coronavirus entering nursing and care homes. But she said there are procedures in place if she or colleagues have concerns.

On a more personal level, the 40-year-old, who is originally from Trinidad and used to be a teacher, said the coronavirus is a worry, given its impact on BAME groups.

Speaking before the lockdown measures were slightly eased in Wales on May 8, she said: “I have three daughters, who are 17, nine and seven – we are staying indoors and only going out once a day.

“I’m looking across the waters to my family and friends in Trinidad, and twin sister in America. You worry that you are going to get ‘that call’.”

Mrs Hadaway-Morgan is an equality branch officer for union Unison, and said BAME workers tended to occupy a disproportionate number of public-facing roles, were less likely to reach managerial positions and were more likely to live in areas of high multiple deprivation.

“We need to look at the fallout after this,” she said. “As a society, we need a total change in how we think and how we value people.”

Asked if she felt that she and other

BAME key workers would be more appreciated in the years to come, she replied: “That’s a question the optimistic side of me hopes will happen. But the realistic side of me is a bit doubtful.

“I would hope that Covid-19 is something that brings the community together and that it goes beyond race. Only time will tell.”

BAME workers occupy many taxi driver, takeaway and delivery roles.

Reyaz Faraj owns Pizza Napoli in Swansea’s Brynymor Road.

Mr Faraj – one of a sizeable Kurdish community in Swansea – said the coronavirus is frightening for him and his staff.

“When I go home I wash my hands, my face and put my clothes in the wash before I come down and see my kids,” he said.

According to Welsh Government figures, Swansea’s BAME communities represents just over 10% of the county’s overall population, lower