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

Some of the NHS workers who have died during the coronavirus crisis (PA)

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.

Health inequalities affecting ethnic minorities are not new, but have been exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis. Bame people are thought more likely to be in low-paid jobs and be the key workers who come into close contact with other people; to be less likely to be able to work from home and to be more likely to live in overcrowded accommodation and to have different generations living in the same household, increasing the risk of the virus passing from young to old.

The economic emergency will also affect some parts of the community more than others. A survey by BMG for The Independent found that people from Bame households (46 per cent) were much more likely than white Britons (28 per cent) to report having lost income as a result of coronavirus. Some 15 per cent of Bame people said they had lost their job, compared with 8 per cent of white Britons.

The poll suggested the virus also discriminates against the young; some 44 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds said they had lost income, a higher proportion than among other age groups. According to the Resolution Foundation think tank, young people and those on low incomes are twice as likely to lose their jobs than other groups.

After the 2008 financial crisis, the austerity measures introduced by the Conservatives failed the fairness test. They forced those relying on welfare – many of them in work—to shoulder too much of the burden. The Tories must not make the same mistake when the country emerges from the immediate health crisis. The victims of this economic emergency must not pay twice when the inevitable tax increases are drawn up; the better-off, even if they are among the over-60s, should not be overly protected as they were in the decade of austerity.

Mr Johnson’s Twitter video on his release from hospital was impressive; his praise for the NHS workers who saved his life was heartfelt. Some Conservatives, such as the former minister Nicholas Soames, believe the chastening experience will change Mr Johnson and his approach to politics forever.

We hope he is right. The prime minister must not repeat his party’s mistakes after the 2008 crash. He must acknowledge that his goal to “level up” the country must now take on a whole new dimension.

Mr Johnson must remain forever true to his words in his video, press the economic reset button and ensure a new, fair settlement. It should give key workers permanent, not fleeting, recognition (including higher pay) and protect the groups, including the poor, young adults and the Bame population, who have already paid a heavy price in this crisis.