South Asian people most likely to die in hospital from coronavirus in UK, major study finds

Ethnicity should be considered carefully when policy makers are drawing up coronavirus guidelines, one of the study’s authors says

South Asian people are at greater risk of dying in hospital with the coronavirus than other ethnicities, according to a new study.

Researchers said the study – the largest of its kind in the world – revealed “stark” differences in the impact of the virus between people in hospital from white and minority ethnic communities.

The study, the findings of which have been put online but have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal, looked at more than 30,000 patients in hospital with the coronavirus between February and May – an estimated 40 per cent of the total number in England, Scotland and Wales at the time.

The results showed that those who were South Asian were 19 per cent more likely to die with the coronavirus, while those who were black were five per cent more likely to die, and other ethnic minorities had no higher risk compared with white people.

They found that patients admitted to hospital from South Asian backgrounds – Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi and surrounding countries – were aged 60 on average, 12 years younger than white people.

This was despite having fewer pre-existing conditions such as dementia, heart disease or obesity – although two in five had diabetes, compared with a quarter of white patients.

The research team said they were unable to explain why Asian people were more likely to die other than the link to diabetes, which accounted for a fifth of the increased risk of fatalities.

Among factors needing investigation were their increased likelihood of working in face-to-face occupations, as well as links to their genes.

They said the findings had clear implications for decisions linked to shielding, easing lockdown, prioritisation of treatment and distribution of potential vaccines if they become available.

“The South Asian population in hospital looks completely different to the white population,” Professor Ewen Harrison, one of the study's authors, told the BBC.

The researchers from a group of universities and public health bodies also found that people from ethnic minorities in hospital with the coronavirus were more likely to be admitted to intensive care than white people.

The researchers said ethnicity should be taken into account when deciding how to prioritise prevention treatment and vaccinations in the future.

Moreover, South Asian people are “over-represented” in frontline key worker jobs and those involving contact with the public, a factor that authorities should take into account when drawing up guidance and policies, researchers said.