Coronavirus: why Britain’s ethnic minorities have been hit so hard by pandemic

Despite only making up 14 per cent of the country’s population, ethnic minorities represent a third of the patients in intensive care with Covid-19

They were also more likely to be in low-paid jobs or be key workers, which bring them into more contact with the infection

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Customers buy fruit and vegetables from a stall at Whitechapel market in east London. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:59pm, 16 Apr 2020Updated: 11:27pm, 16 Apr 2020

When Amer Awan’s father died of coronavirus, mourners congregated with little thought of social distancing. But cultural practices alone do not explain why Britain’s ethnic minorities have been hardest hit by the outbreak.

“Visitors to the house … were not wearing any masks or not wearing gloves. They wanted to hug me,” the 44-year-old property developer from Birmingham, in central England, said.

“And I said, no, I’m sorry, I’m not gonna hug you. You know, you need to understand I’ve just lost my dad because of coronavirus and you are not taking this seriously.”

His experience of the death of his father, Nazir, who moved to the UK from Pakistan 56 years ago, makes him fear his community remains at risk of the deadly outbreak of Covid-19.

Britain’s black and minority ethnic communities appear to have been hardest hit by the virus sweeping the country – an issue that public health authorities are now looking into. Despite only making up 14 per cent of the population of England and Wales, they represent a third of the patients in intensive care with coronavirus, according to the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC).

Chaand Nagpaul, head of the British Medical Association, said this was “extremely disturbing and worrying”.

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