Figures released by NHS England today show the continuing trend of the BAME community being disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Out of the 19,740 people who tested positive for the virus and died in English hospitals, 18% are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background. This is 3% higher than the BAME population in England.

But this is only part of the picture. Health authorities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland don’t record ethnicity, or as they told us, their systems aren’t robust enough to publish the data.

And in the UK, outside of hospitals, there is no mention of ethnicity on death certificates. So we may never know the true proportion of deaths from these communities.

In mid-April, the Department for Health and Social Care announced they would launch an inquiry into this issue to establish why so many people from BAME backgrounds are dying.

Early reports suggest a number of factors, including underlying health conditions, like type 2 diabetes or increased heart conditions.

The disproportionate number of deaths have also been clear in our health service.

Sky News analysis suggests that 62% of all those who’ve died in the NHS since the start of this outbreak are from a BAME background.

They include cleaners, hospital porters, nurses and intensive care doctors – all of whom are now known to be at a “potentially greater risk” by NHS England.

In reaction to a letter that was sent to all hospitals by NHS bosses, which recommended BAME staff should be risk assessed, one former CEO of a hospital said mitigating the risk is a big challenge.

Roy Lilley told Sky News: “Taking BAME colleagues out of front lines and COVID wards may just not be possible.

“We depend on them so much – certainly in huge hospitals like in London and Birmingham.”

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