Hamed Chapman

Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds because of long-standing racial and socioeconomic inequalities, according to report by a race equality thinktank.

The survey, conducted by the Runnymede Trust and ICM, illuminates why BAME communities are at greater risk from the deadly pandemic and warn that as the lockdown is eased with the economic fallout they are further exposed to the coronavirus.

They were found to be more likely to be working outside their home, more likely to be using public transport, more likely to be working in key worker roles, less likely to be protected with PPE and more likely to live in multigenerational, overcrowded housing and so much less able to self-isolate and shield.

Compared to 27 per cent of White groups, more than one-third of Black communities (34 per cent) are in key worker roles, with nearly four in ten from Black African groups (37 per cent) in frontline key worker employment such as public transport, health and social care (including care workers), teaching (including teaching assistants) and social work.

Half of the Bangladeshi key workers (50 per cent), more than four in ten Pakistani (42 per cent) and Black African (41 per cent) key worker respondents also reported they had not been supplied with adequate Personal Protective Equipment.

The report, Over Exposed and Under-Protected — The Devastating Impact of COVID-19 on Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in Great Britain was based on the survey of 2,585 adults in Britain, including 750 from BAME backgrounds.

It made several recommendations about the policy to protect BAME groups from Covid-19 including that employers carry out risk assessments for staff with vulnerable characteristics, that all key workers in public-facing roles have access to adequate PPE and significantly strengthening the social security safety net. Separate research also has revealed that ethnic inequalities are “deeply entrenched” among the over-50s in England, with older BAME people falling behind white peers on income and homeownership.

BAME people are more likely to retire later than White peers, have a lower weekly income, and are far less likely to own their own home, according to an analysis by the Centre for Ageing Better, Institute for Public Policy Research and University College London