Concerns about disproportionate impact of coronavirus on BAME population

  • Anglia

  • Watch Stuart Leithes' report below:

According to studies, coronavirus is hitting ethnic minority groups much harder than the wider population.

The Government has launched an investigation into why people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds seem to be more at risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 than others.

Recent analysis by the Guardian newspaper suggests 19 percent of deaths are people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. That's about 25 percent higher than might be expected.

Additionally, a study by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre showed that non-white patients represented 34 percent of critical cases. However, only 14 percent of the population comes from a BAME background.

In Peterborough - Atiq Rehman posted an emotional video online after losing his cousin Ali Hussain to the virus earlier this month. Ali was was only 30.

Brenda Padmore from Capel St Mary, Suffolk has also suffered a loss from Covid-19. Her 91-year-old father, Richard Claxton, died after contracting the virus earlier this month.

Brenda Padmore and her father, Richard Credit: Brenda Padmore

Cases and deaths are now being logged by ethnicity to help Public Health England determine what action can be taken.

Gurch Randawa, a University of Bedfordshire Professor of Diversity in Public Health, says socioeconomic factors could be one reason for the disproportionate impact.

Professor Gurch Randawa Credit: ITV Anglia

In Peterborough - mosque representative Amir Suleman has been helping to get the Government's safety message across to members of the Muslim community. He told ITV Anglia he thinks health factors may have a part to play.

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know