People from black and ethnic minorities appear to be at greater risk of dying from coronavirus, according to a study of patients at three London hospitals.
Experts at Imperial College investigated the outcomes for 520 treated at St Mary’s, Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals for Covid-19 between February 25 and April 5. The hospitals take patients from ethnically diverse areas of central and west London.
They found that 302 were discharged, 144 died and 74 were still hospitalised at the time the report was completed.
They found that a higher proportion of patients were from ethnic backgrounds — at least 40 per cent — than admitted to the same hospitals for other conditions a year earlier. Patients of black ethnic minority backgrounds were younger and had fewer pre-existing health conditions compared with those of white background — suggesting they may be at increased risk of mortality. Dr Shevanthi Nayagam, one of the report authors, said: “We found that patients from BAME groups were over-represented in admissions for Covid-19 compared to a normal year with other illnesses.
“Patients with a black ethnic background were younger and even though they had fewer pre-existing conditions, they tended to show a similar severity of illness than older patients from white ethnicity. It is critical that we understand whether this pattern is true across the UK and what the potential key drivers of these differences are.”
The findings are the latest to raise concerns that ethnic minorities are at higher risk. This week NHS England called on hospitals to try to shield BAME staff from frontline duties.
