There have been disproportionate rates of premature death from Covid-19 among patients of Asian and black ethnicity, a large cohort study has found.

The research, published in the journal BMJ Open, is based on nearly 1,800 patients admitted to five acute hospitals within Barts Health NHS Trust between January 1 and May 13 2020.

The study found that patients from minority ethnic backgrounds were younger and less frail, compared with white patients.

It also showed that black patients were 1.8 times, and Asian patients 1.54 times, more likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) and need mechanical ventilation.

Study author Dr Yize Wan, clinical lecturer at Queen Mary University of London and specialty registrar in intensive care medicine and anaesthesia at Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “Our study shows the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on black and Asian groups in the first peak.

“Black and Asian people admitted to Barts Health hospitals with Covid-19 were significantly younger in age, had greater acute disease severity, and higher mortality relative to white patients of the same age and baseline health.

“As the impact of Covid-19 continues to be seen within our community, the importance of responding to the ethnic disparities unmasked during the Covid-19 pandemic is crucial to prevent entrenching and inflicting them on future generations.”

The clinicians looked at the data from 1,737 patients aged 16 and over who were admitted to hospital and had a confirmed Covid-19 diagnosis, 511 of whom died 30 days later.

The cohort comprised 538 (31%) Asian patients, 340 (20%) black patients, and 707 (40%) from white backgrounds.

Black and Asian ethnicity patients were significantly younger – with median ages of 64 and 59 respectively – compared with 73 in the white group, the researchers said.

In addition, both groups were found to be at 50%–80% increased risk of receiving mechanical ventilation in ICU, compared with white patients of a similar age.

After adjusting for factors such as age, sex, obesity, smoking and frailty, the researchers found that, compared with those from white backgrounds, Asian patients were 1.49 times, and black patients 1.3 times, more likely to die from Covid-19.

The experts said that while their study had a large number of patients, they were unable to get a more detailed ethnicity breakdown.

They said further research is needed to understand the reasons why those from Asian and black backgrounds have higher mortality from Covid-19 infection.

First author Dr Vanessa Apea, a consultant physician in sexual health and HIV at Barts Health NHS Trust and honorary senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, said: “Authentic community-based participatory research to understand the drivers of these differences, and co-creation of solutions are key to achieving health equity in these communities.”

Migrant Numbers Dying in Crossings Highlights Human Catastrophe

At least 700 migrants may have died at sea this past week in the busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italy this year, Medecins San Frontieres and the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday.

About 14,000 have been rescued since Monday amid calm seas, and there have been at least three confirmed instances of boats sinking. But the number of dead can only be estimated based on survivor testimony, which is still being collected.

“We will never know exact numbers,” Medecins San Frontieres said in a Tweet after estimating that 900 had died during the week. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than 700 had drowned.

Migrants interviewed on Saturday in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo told of a large fishing boat that overturned and sank on Thursday with many women and children on board.

Initial estimates were that 400 people died, but the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday there may have been about 670 passengers on board.

According to testimony collected by EU border agency Frontex, when the motorless fishing boat capsized, 25 swam to the boat that had been towing it, while 79-89 others were saved by rescuers and 15 bodies were recovered. This meant more than 550 died, the UNHCR said.

The migrants — fleeing wars, oppression and poverty — often do not know how to swim and do not have life jackets. They pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to make the crossing from Libya to Italy, by far the most dangerous border passage for migrants in the world.

This week’s arrivals included Eritreans, Sudanese, Nigerians and many other West Africans, humanitarian groups say. Despite the surge this week, as of Friday 40,660 arrivals had been counted, 2 percent fewer than the same period of last year, the Interior Ministry said.

Most of the boats this week appear to have left from Sabratha, Libya, where many said smugglers had beaten them and women said they had been raped, said MSF, which has three rescue boats in the area.

The migrants are piled onto flimsy rubber boats or old fishing vessels which can toss their occupants into the sea in a matter of seconds.

About 100 are thought to have either been trapped in the hull or to have drowned after tumbling into the sea on Wednesday.

On Friday, the Italian Navy ship Vega collected 45 bodies and rescued 135 from a “half submerged” rubber boat. It is not yet known exactly how many were on board, but the rubber boats normally carry about 300.

“Some were more shaken than others because they had lost their loved ones,” Raffaele Martino, commander of the Vega, told Reuters on Sunday in the southern port of Reggio Calabria, where the Vega docked with the survivors and corpses, including those of three infants.

“It’s time that Europe had the courage to offer safe alternatives that allow these people to come without putting their own lives or those of their children in danger,” Tommaso Fabri of MSF Italy said.

You simply cannot make this up. Self-publicist and ‘live by Twitter’ Karen Danczuk decided to comment on the deaths of over 700 Muslim pilgrims in Mecca. The pilgrims were crushed as they carried out the sacred ceremony of the Hajj pilgrimage in the ancient city of Mecca.

Instead of sending condolences, Danczuk decided to state the following:

“Many Muslims believe Allah shows his feelings by actions. I wonder what message they think he’s sending following both tragedies at Mecca.” She signed the tweet off as KD.

Without over-analysing the comments, all faiths in some shape or form, believe that God (or gods) show their displeasure or pleasure with mankind through physical actions and manifestations and clearly Danczuk has never read Greek or Roman philosophy or history. Maybe, just maybe, she has heard of the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi who visioned the actions of the Gods through physical manifestations? We think not.

However, the statement is suggestive and could suggest to individuals reading it, that Allah is unhappy with Muslims, hence he strikes them dead. That to a lay reader, could well be its ordinary meaning. As we suggested before, instead of sending condolences, this is the best she comes up with.

The response back from her is even more interesting. She states:

“Yours is a silly comment. So am I wrong? Muslims don’t believe Allah will make his feelings known? KD“

Again what is interesting is that Danczuk lumps all Muslims together. It is as if she thinks that there is some supernatural group-think going on, as if Muslims are all programmed to think the same and believe the same thing. Which leads us to the following – does Danczuk really know much about the dynamics in Muslim communities? We think not, once again.

Finally, we would suggest this. If Danczuk truly wants to get involved in discussions, it might, just might be useful to understand something about the subject when commenting on the deaths of individuals. Something to think about Karen?

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