“A virus cannot be inherently racist, but it can be indicative of a society that is”
. Of 12,593 patients who died in hospital before 19 April, 19 per cent were black, Asian and minority ethnic – despite the fact that they make up just 15 per cent of the general population in England. Put more bluntly, black people are up to four times more likely to die from the virus than their white counterparts– while the virus is more than three times as likely to prove fatal to those of Bangladeshi or Pakistani ethnicity and twice as likely to result in death for those of Indian heritage.
When these disparities have been raised online, the stock response has been to scoff that a virus cannot be racist. It’s a counter argument that’s a lot less intelligent than its advocates think it is: a virus cannot be inherently racist, but it can be indicative of a society that is.
, and the findings were clear: reduced access to healthcare compared with white people, along with school closures and insecure housing, all aid in making minorities more at risk. It is less viable to socially distance if you live in overcrowded accommodation, or with multiple generations under one roof, as many minorities do. It’s harder to avoid the outdoors if your work is insecure and low-paid and you do not have the privilege to work from home.
The things that make BAME people more susceptible to coronavirus have ravaged the life expectancy of minorities in the UK long before the pandemic, as well as leading to a greater prevalence of serious underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, asthma and diabetes – which of course make Covid-19 even harder to overcome.
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