E-Paper
Many Indian-origin people in UK stricken by Covid-19
A large number of doctors and nurses who qualified in India are on the frontline of treating thousands of coronavirus patients across the UK.
Initial data and anecdotal evidence of medical professionals suggest that 35% of critically ill coronavirus patients are of Indian and other non-white origin in the UK, with London boroughs with large Indian population figuring among the most afflicted.
Britain’s health authorities have not released ethnicity data of the over 7,000 dead or of the over 60,000 cases in hospitals. But new data from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre says 35% of the critically ill are from black or minority ethnic backgrounds.
The London area has the largest number of cases in the UK: 14,355, followed by the Midlands (including Birmingham, Leicester): 8,589. The London boroughs with high number of cases include Brent (853), Barnet (752), Ealing (553) and Harrow (530).
Kamlesh Khunti, a medical expert at the University of Leicester, told BBC: “A lot of people have been concerned about this issue based on anecdotal reports and now this data is showing a signal regarding a higher number of black and minority ethnic populations being admitted to intensive care units.”
NHS doctors who have died so far are all from minority origin, including Jitendra Kumar Rathod. Nurses who have passed away also include some of Asian origin. Their deaths have been highlighted by anti-racism campaigners who hail their contribution to the NHS.
According to Khunti, the reasons Indian and other non-white people figure more in the figures, despite accounting for only 14 per cent of the UK population, include many coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, working in public-facing occupations, holding different cultural beliefs and behaviours or being at high risk of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
A large number of doctors and nurses who qualified in India are on the frontline of treating thousands of coronavirus patients across the UK. India-qualified doctors account for the second largest group in the NHS, after those qualifying in the UK.
