London mayor says ethnic minorities disproportionately affected by coronavirus

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says there is increasing evidence that people from ethnic minority backgrounds in Britain are being "disproportionately affected” by Covid-19, saying it should act as a “wake up call” for fundamental change.

In an opinion piece published in the Guardian newspaper on Monday, Khan points to a study showing that a third of those critically ill in hospital from coronavirus are from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, even though people from those groups make up just 14 percent of the population as a whole.

“More and more, the notion that this epidemic is some kind of “great leveller” is being exposed for what it is – a complete myth,” Khan writes.

He says the reasons for the disparity are complex and varied, but says people from BAME communities are more likely to be employed in frontline roles, as health workers, supermarket shelf stackers and bus drivers.

“One of the biggest underlying factors driving the disproportionate number of deaths in BAME communities is socioeconomic,” he says.

“It’s an uncomfortable truth that people from ethnic minority backgrounds are overrepresented in poor, overcrowded accommodation, or households with multiple generations under one roof. And it’s a fact that they are more likely to live in poverty or work in precarious and low-paid jobs. Many simply don’t have the luxury of being able to work safely from home during the lockdown.”

“This must be a wake-up call for our country and a catalyst for far-reaching and fundamental change," he says, adding: "Once this crisis is over, we will need to forge a new social contract that advances the twin causes of racial and economic equality, and prioritises the welfare and wellbeing of every single community in this country.”

Khan says there needs to be real-time collection of data about the ethnicity of those who contract coronavirus.