Failure to warn BAME communities of virus risk ‘is a scandal’

By Amit Roy

ONE day when the coronavirus pandemic is over – and it will be over – there will be an in­quiry into how the government in the UK handled the crisis.

But we don’t need to wait for an inquiry to realise that the lack of proper gowns, masks, and gloves that might have saved the lives of NHS and other frontline workers is a national scandal.

The government’s failure to address the par­ticular needs of the Asian and black communi­ties, where the death toll has been dispropor­tionately high, is just as big a scandal. There have three weeks of daily Downing Street press con­ferences in which white journalists from white newspapers and TV stations have raised the concerns of white people of this country.

There has clearly been a failure on the part of the government to understand the problem which Eastern Eye, for example, has been highlighting from the very beginning. This failure is all the more astonishing since three Indian-origin cabi­net ministers – Rishi Sunak, Priti Patel and Alok Sharma – are at the heart of the government.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA’s (British Medical Assocation) coun­cil, put his finger on it when he called for a “culturally sensitive” campaign.

Asian communities should be warned of the ease of virus transmission in ex­tended families, which is a strength in normal times. Those with underlying health issues, such as diabetes or heart or kidney problems, should be made aware of the greater risks they face.

The government should listen to Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, who said there is evidence that black and other ethnic communities are more at risk from Covid-19.

“There is some evi­dence growing  both in the United States and here in Europe that people from BAME backgrounds are more at risk. What is critical is whether that is something specific to that back­ground or is it related to other risk factors we know about – age, other illness people have: diabetes, peo­ple who are obese have been more affected, people with high blood pressure, people with heart disease, lung disease,” Sir Jeremy said.

To fall back on the excuse that is used to ignore past mistakes, “we are where we are”, is not good enough. A campaign aimed at Asians should be launched now.