Why are more BAME people dying from COVID-19?

In the UK, a large proportion of staff who work in the NHS come from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) groups and some are dying from COVID-19 at a much higher rate than white staff. The same is true in the general population. The ramifications of the pandemic are far from over. The health, social and economic impact are affecting ethnic and gender groups in different ways. The evidence demonstrates that minority groups are over-represented in hospitalisations and deaths. Public Health England is launching an inquiry into the issue (Platt and Warwick, 2020).

People from ethnic minority backgrounds represent 14% of the population; however, Bailey and West (2020) found that, according to the Race Equality Foundation (REF) (2020), they account for 34% of critically ill COVID-19 patients and a similar percentage of all COVID-19 cases.