UK Minister faces uproar as death toll of medics rises to 19

By Francis Ogwo

British Government has been urged to immediately launch an investigation into why Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups (BAME ) have become more susceptible to deaths by COVID 19.

According to Guardian UK, this inquiry was made by the head of British Medical Association, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, on the heels of recent deaths of 10 doctors in the UK who were all BAME.

Naagpaul said over 44 % of the medical staff were all ancestrally linked to Asia,the Middle East and Africa which surpasses 14% of the population of England and Wales. This he described as “extremely disturbing and worrying”.

“At face value, it seems hard to see how this can be random to have the first 10 doctors of all being of BAME background.

“Not only that, we also know that in terms of the BAME population, they make up about a third of those in intensive care. There’s a disproportionate percentage of BAME people getting ill.

“We have heard the virus does not discriminate between individuals but there’s no doubt there appears to be a manifest disproportionate severity of infection in BAME people and doctors. This has to be addressed the government must act now.” Naagpul added.

Reports indicate that apart from the 10 doctors, three out of six nurses named in the recent deaths have also been BAME including one hospital pharmacist and one healthcare assistant.

Naagpaul further revealed that even though there has not been ethnicity ties to the recent deaths in the UK , research and publications on the deaths has shown that 35% of almost 2,000 patients in intensive care units were non-white.

The BMA head lamented that BAME health professionals are deeply disturbed about the death of their colleagues which though early to get anwers but needed to be querried.

Naagpaul was of the view that one factor that could have limited BAME doctors from complaining about poor personal protective equipment (PPE) which could be fear of witchhunt and thus settled fro less and vulnerability.

“BAME doctors often feel bullied and harassed at higher levels compared to their white counterparts. They are twice as likely not to raise concerns because of fears of recrimination.”

He lamented that out of all of the BAME deaths ,” I think only one was born here who have come from overseas and have given their lives to the NHS, to save the lives of others”.

Speaking further Naagpaul querried the conditions of service of the BAME professionals in the UK which keeps many of them at key working positions especially intensive care units as a huge factor

“You’ve got a high proportion of BAME people not able to stay at home, serving the nation, putting themselves at risk.

“If you add that to overcrowded and multigenerational occupancies, the infections can be brought back home and spread to other members of the family.”

Nagpaul also querried the efforts made on translation of information leaflets on covid 19 into English language to suit the BAME population who majorly spoke English as their second language.

This he argued could pose great communication issues especially on vital measures like physical distancing through mobile phones.

Another factor from the BAME boss was that there was higher prevalence of diabetes, heart disease and kidney disease among BAME communites which made them vulnerable and poorer in immune level.

In his reaction UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock in a chat with journalists at Downing Street in London expressed worry on the report of highest death figure from the BAME population.

“I’m particularly struck at the high proportion of people from minority ethnic backgrounds and people who have come to this country to work in the NHS who have died of coranavirus

“I find it really upsetting actually and it is a testament to the fact that people who have come from all over the world have come and given their lives in service to the NHS and paid for that with their lives.

“I think we should recognise their enormous contribution.”

Hancock had earlier in a chat with BBC said investigations will trace where the staff had contracted the virus wether “in the line of duty” or outside of work.

He said that none of the deaths are believed to be linked to a lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

“My heart goes out to their families, these are people who have put themselves on the front line.

“The work is going on to establish whether they caught coronavirus in the line of duty while at work or whether, like so many other people, caught it in the rest of their lives. It is obviously quite difficult to work that out.

“What matters is we pay tribute to their service.”

Hancock’s reaction according to reports had come after the media backlashed him for describing protective equipment for healthcare workers as a “precious resource”.

It would be recalled that 19 NHS workers had died fighting the deadly corona virus pandemic with the BAME population recording highest figures of 10 deaths.