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Young and Bame people have already paid a heavy price over coronavirus – the government must protect them

Editorial: Boris Johnson and his government must not repeat his party’s mistakes after the 2008 financial crash

Monday 13 April 2020 18:43 BST
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Some of the NHS workers who have died during the coronavirus crisis
Some of the NHS workers who have died during the coronavirus crisis

While Boris Johnson was seriously ill after contracting coronavirus, ministers argued that it showed the disease did not discriminate. While we welcome the prime minister’s departure from hospital and wish him a speedy full recovery, it would be wrong to regard his illness as a sign that Covid-19 is a great leveller. It is already clear that it does discriminate.

The first 10 doctors to die from the virus in the UK were all black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) people. While they make up 44 per cent of medical staff and only about 14 per cent of the population, the government should order the urgent inquiry into these deaths requested by the British Medical Association and the Labour opposition to see if lessons could be learnt and more deaths prevented.

Similarly, more than a third of the initial group of patients who fell critically ill from coronavirus were non-white. Although Downing Street said on Monday the death of every NHS worker would be investigated by the Department of Health and Social Care, this does not go far enough.

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