On 19th July, Monday a study of 400 hospital patients noted that the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on people from minority ethnic groups was linked to air pollution and overcrowding and poor-standard homes.
BAME patients who constitute 14% of the entire population account for 34% of critically ill Covid-19 patients in the UK.
The study, first of its kind analysing the role of environmental and housing deprivation has highlighted that patients from ethnic minorities were twice as likely as white patients to live in areas of environmental and housing deprivation. Furthermore, people from these areas were twice as likely to arrive at hospital with more severe coronavirus symptoms and to be admitted to intensive care units (ITU).
Yet to be formally peer-reviewed by other scientists the study also found patients from ethnic minorities were on average 10 years younger than the white patients. Age, frailty and underlying health conditions remain critical factors for all patients in determining the outcome of Covid-19.
The study, followed 400 Covid-19 patients admitted to the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham. Two-thirds of the patients listed their ethnicity as “white”, 21% as “Asian/Asian British” and 7% were “Black/African/Caribbean”.
Dr Aarash Saleh, an NHS respiratory doctor and member of the Doctors Against Diesel campaign In a statement to The Guardian, said: “We need more research like this to understand how air pollution interacts with other societal injustices to exacerbate health inequities, including death from Covid-19. Strategic responses to air pollution are urgently needed and must acknowledge and address the socioeconomic and racial intersections of this public health crisis.”
