Covid-19 Harvest Minorities … And Those With Low Income

Doctors have succeeded in identifying factors that make some people with #Covid-19 more at risk of death than others, such as age, gender, and health problems. But months after the outbreak in China, evidence points to other social and economic factors that determine injuries and deaths.
While in Europe and the US officials insisted that Kovid -19 does not distinguish between the chip and the other, but the numbers reveal otherwise.
A series of studies released recently showed that the deaths of minorities in Britain and the United States with Covid-19 were more likely to be inconsistent with their percentage compared to their white-skinned counterparts in the two countries most affected by the virus.
In the American city of Chicago, for example, the rate of injuries is 925 per 100,000 blacks, compared to 389 for whites.
The death rate by age among blacks in New York City was more than twice that of their white peers, a trend supported by another study by the British Institute for Financial Studies.
The study found that black Britons were two and a half times more likely to die than whites.
In addition, many studies indicate that deprivation is a major determinant of HIV infections.
- “Two-tier system” –
An Oxford University review of 3,600 test results found that people living in the most disadvantaged areas of Britain were four times more likely to be infected with HIV than those living in luxury areas.
A research paper presented by “Imperial College” estimated that people from the lower income brackets were 32 percent more likely to die.
Dave Sridhar, professor and head of the Global Public Health Department at the University of Edinburgh Medical School said that the lack of preparedness when the epidemic struck revealed a “two-tier system” in Britain’s response to the virus.
“If we look at the month of March – which is surprising – you could have bought a test just as curious to know if you were carrying the virus or not, if you were rich or had enough relationships,” she told AFP.
“But if you are a health worker in the Coved booth and you have symptoms, you will not be able to take a test. This is a dual system that is not good for public health because you need to test people in the front line.”
Number of “shocking” deaths
The relationship between mortality and the race of victims is becoming more evident for those on the front line, including physicians, nurses and care workers.
A Professor of Anesthesiology at Royal United Hospital in Bath and the University of Bristol Tim Cook maintains a database of deaths of health workers in Covid-19.
Because of the difficulty in obtaining official figures, he and his colleagues began researching media reports. The results were astounding.
Of the 63 nurses and midwives who died from the virus in the Cook database, 76 percent are from an ethnic minority.
Among the 32 doctors and dentists have died so far, 30 of them non-white equivalent to 94 percent.
Generally, minority health workers accounted for 63 percent of deaths, although they made up just over 20 percent of the workforce.
The head of the British Medical Association Chand Nagul told AFP that the numbers were “shocking”.
He added: “Many of these doctors have played a very clear role in caring for patients, and their death with a cofeed was a very noticeable loss.”
Cook said he was surprised by the disproportionate number of deaths of health workers from ethnic minorities, especially since he was not initially understood as a risk factor when he struck the epidemic.
“China has done a really good job of providing us with information, but multiculturalism is less there than other societies in the world,” he told AFP.
“The risk factors that we saw came from China related to age, diabetes, immune suppressants, and other similar risk factors. This is what we focused on.”
Factor Set –
But while the data show clearly that ethnic minorities are at risk of death from Kovid -19 dramatically, Cook said it was difficult to accurately determine the cause.
“Minorities are more likely to have a host of other risk factors. Compared to the white population, they are more likely to develop high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and these factors are known to put high-risk patients with Covid.”
But that alone does not explain the reason for the discrepancy, as Sridhar said that social factors may have played an important role.
“It may be because there are some inherent genetic preparations, but then we would have expected to see more deaths in countries with more numbers of people from these minorities, and that’s not what we see,” she said.
“The only dominant factor relates to their social condition, especially with health workers. What we see with doctors from black or Asian ethnic backgrounds or other minorities is really amazing.”
In Sweden, which rejects strict closings, the Public Health Agency reported this month that the proportion of the population born in Somalia was much greater than those who were hospitalized with Covid-19.
The poorest areas of the capital, Stockholm – where many immigrants live – have seen an average infection rate per person three times greater than the richer neighborhoods.
- “Minority doctors are at risk” –
Numerous studies in the British health sector indicate that ethnic minority minority physicians and nurses may be victims of systemic discrimination, and in a recent survey of the British Doctors’ Association that involved 16,000 health workers.