COVID 19: Mortality rate higher in Asian and Black community in UK
Story highlights
The officials believe that the reason behind this might be circumstances or the neighbourhoods the said communities live in.
Britain's statistics office on Friday released figures that highlights the increased risk that the Asian and Black community face in the country during the pandemic.
According to the data, the death rate from the novel coronavirus in England and Wales is higher among people who identify as Muslims, Jews, Hindus or Sikh, when compared to people who identify as Christians or those with no stated religion.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysed data from the start of March until May 15 to check the mortality rate pattern and analysed that the mortality rate among Muslims was higher than any other group. The Muslim community is followed by the Jewish, Hindu and/or Sikh communities.
Explaining that the reason behind this might be circumstances or the neighbourhoods the said communities live in, the report stated, "With ethnicity included, (this) demonstrates that a substantial part of the difference in mortality...between religious groups is explained by the different circumstances in which members of these groups are known to live; for example, living in areas with higher levels of socio-economic deprivation and differences in ethnic makeup."
"However, after adjusting for the above, Jewish males are at twice the risk of Christian males, and Jewish women are also at higher risk," said Nick Stripe, Head of Life Events at the ONS.
The mortality rate among Muslim men was 98.9 deaths per 100,000 and 98.2 deaths per 100,000 for women. For those who said they had no religion, as recorded in 2011 Britain census, the figure was 80.7 deaths per 100,000 males and 47.9 deaths per 100,000 females.
The research also pointed out that black men were at 255.7 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 87 deaths per 100,000 white males, and black women were 119.8 per 100,000 for black women whereas white women's mortality rate is 52 per 100,000.
"Significant differences also remain for Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian men," Stripe said.
However, ONS has also stated that more research needs to be done on this to study the causes and effects on the mentioned communities in the pandemic.
(With inputs from Reuters)