On Sunday 20th September, a chief medical officer warned that black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Britons continue to lack protection from Covid-19 despite the reassurances made by the government in the first wave.
A third of coronavirus patients in intensive care are from BAME backgrounds and Chaand Nagpaul, head of British Medical Association has warned that government inaction will be responsible for further disproportionate deaths. Public Health England (PHE) review of BAME Covid-19 deaths in early June, confirmed people of certain ethnicities were at greater risk and Chaand Nagpaul has said no remedial action had been taken by the government.
Speaking to the Guardian, Nagpaul said, “We are continuing to see BAME people suffering disproportionately in terms of intensive care admissions so not acting means that we’re not protecting our vulnerable communities. Action was needed back in July and it’s certainly needed now more than ever. As the infection rate rises, there’s no reason to believe that the BAME population will not suffer again because no action has been taken to protect them. They are still at higher risk of serious ill health and dying.”
Independent Sage have also published their own recommendations. Dr Zubaida Haque, a member of Independent Sage and a former deputy director of the Runnymede Trust, in a statement to The Guardian said, “A good point to start is to ask the government: ‘What exactly have you done?’ Because we haven’t seen anything that they’ve done. It does feel like the ball’s been kicked into the long grass with the recommendations because we’ve never seen nor heard anything and we’re on the verge of the second wave. Have they set up necessary … accommodation support [for people self-isolating] and have they ensured that the public health messages around social distancing and help for self-isolation is reaching black and ethnic minority people on the ground, including those who may not be fluent [in English]?”
