MORNING SERIAL
DEVELOPED by orthopaedic surgeon Professor Keshav Singhal this would help BAME people working in the Welsh health system to calculate their particular risk by giving themselves a score.
Anyone who scored seven or more was considered ‘very at risk’ and had to work from home or at least not interact with patients.
A score between 4-6 suggested considering modifying duties and carrying out a PPE review. The criteria included:
If you are aged between 50-59 = one point;
If you are aged between 60-69 = two points;
Male = one point;
If you identify as one of the BAME or mixed race groups = one point;
Cardiovascular disease. Are you on any treatment for hypertension (high blood pressure), atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rate), heart failure (had a heart attack), or have you had a stroke or mini stroke = one point;
Diabetes (type one or two) = one point;
Chronic lung disease (including asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease) = one point;
Chronic kidney disease (any stage 1-5) = one point;
Sickle cell trait, thalassaemia trait or other haemoglobinopathy = one point;
If your BMI is more than 30 = one point;
If a member of your immediate family (parent under 70, sibling, child) has been in ITU or died with Covid-19 = one point.
One place the Welsh Government did not get credit was for its data collection around the issue.
A report by Professor Emmanuel Ogbonna of Cardiff University9, commissioned by the Welsh Government, heavily criticised the lack of record keeping in Wales.
Prof Ogbonna found that ethnicity of people dying with coronavirus did not start to be recorded as a matter of course through the Welsh Clinical Portal surveillance e-Form until May 6.
Lockdown Wales by Will Hayward £9.99 www.serenbooks.com/ productdisplay/lockdown-wales ISBN 9781781726013