The creation of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, which has compiled a devastating review of inequalities suffered by people of colour within the health system, came after it emerged that people from different minority ethnic groups were at higher risk of dying from Covid. According to an Office for National Statistics analysis, black people were four times as likely as white people to die from coronavirus early in the pandemic.
Many explanations were put forward for the disparities, while people of colour were over-represented among Covid patients in intensive care units. These included them being more likely to be key workers in face-to-face roles – the fact that the first 12 doctors to die of coronavirus were people of colour was an early alarm bell signalling unequal risks. Another theory was that some minority ethnic groups are more likely to live in multigenerational households.
