This archive report was first published on 22 May 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world, a disturbing trend has emerged: the virus appears to discriminate against certain groups, particularly those from minority backgrounds and lower-income communities.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, COVID-19 mortality rates are substantially higher among black and Latino patients than among their white counterparts.
In Chicago, for example, the rate of infection was 925 per 100,000 black people, compared to 389 among white people. Similarly, in New York City, age-adjusted black mortality was more than twice as high as white.
Another study conducted by Britain's Institute of Fiscal Studies found that black Britons were 2.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than their white compatriots.
Deprivation, too, appears to be a key determinant in COVID-19 cases. A University of Oxford review of 3,600 COVID-19 test results found that people living in the most deprived areas of Britain were four times more likely to test positive for the virus than those living in the richest areas.
Professor Devi Sridhar of the University of Edinburgh Medical School noted that a lack of preparedness when the pandemic struck exposed a 'two-tiered system' in Britain's response to the virus.
'If you were networked enough and rich enough, you could go and purchase a COVID test,' she said. 'Yet if you were a health worker on a COVID ward and had symptoms, you would not have had access to a test.'
Health workers, particularly those from minority backgrounds, are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. A database of health worker COVID-19 deaths maintained by Professor Tim Cook of the University of Bristol found that 76% of the 63 nurses and midwives who died were from a BAME background.
Chaand Nagpaul, chair of the British Medical Association, described the figures as 'a shock and a cause for alarm.'
'Many of these doctors played a very visible role in the care of patients in their communities, and for them to die from COVID is a very noticeable loss,' he said.
While the exact reasons for the disparity are unclear, social factors are likely to play a significant role. Professor Sridhar noted that 'the one factor that's over-riding has to do with their social position, particularly with health workers.'
Without greater monitoring and data reporting, it will be difficult to ever get to the bottom of why BAME people appear to be more vulnerable to COVID-19.
