By Balogun Damilola
A new study has suggested that the death rate among COVID-19 patients from black African backgrounds in England and Wales is three times higher than white Britons.
Prior to when the deadly virus fully gained entry into Africa, nonempirical claims had almost attributed the continents low numbers to a probable immune trait that protected blacks against the infection.
But an analysis by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that various black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups in the United Kindom are experiencing higher per capita deaths.
In the study, the researchers examined evidence on the unequal health and economic impacts of COVID-19 from across different data sources with regard to the UK’s minority ethnic groups.
It scrutinised metrics on the risk factors for each of the largest minority groups in England and Wales including other whites, Indians, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, black African, black Caribbeans.
After having accounted for differences in age, sex, and geography, the study estimated that the death rate for people of black African heritage was 3.5 times higher than that of white Britons.
According to the report, people of black Caribbean heritage also reported a per capita death rate that was 1.7 times higher, rising to 2.7 times more when it came to those of Pakistani heritage.
IFS, thus, ruled that a higher proportion of people from ethnic minority backgrounds live in areas more hit and that the impact of the disease is not uniform across ethnic groups as earlier thought.
Speaking on the findings, the institute explained: “Many minority groups live in areas such as London and Birmingham, which have more COVID-19 deaths.
“But most minorities are also younger on average than the population as a whole, which should make them less vulnerable.
“The unequal effects of the COVID-19 crisis on different ethnic groups are likely to be the result of a complex set of economic, social, and health-related factors.
“Understanding the role of each of these will require a better understanding of the virus itself, more data than are currently available, and additional research.”
So far, COVID-19 has killed nearly 27,000 people and infected 171, 253 in the UK.