The British Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released data showing a huge disparity in the death rate due to Covid-19 between white and BAME people, The Guardian reports.
The ONS analysis seems to indicate that black males are 4.2 times more likely to die, and black females more than 4.3 times more likely. People from Asian backgrounds also showed a significantly elevated risk.
The ONS noted that the results could be partly explained by geographic and socioeconomic factors, but that "these factors do not explain all of the difference, suggesting that other causes are still to be identified," The Guardian quoted from the report.
Densely populated areas are known to be virus hotspots, and studies in other parts of the world have revealed a correlation between poverty and morbidity and mortality rates.