Covid-19: Being black does not put you at greater risk, researchers say

Black and other ethnic-minority Britons are no more likely to die of Covid-19 than white people after taking into account the effects of other illnesses and deprivation, documents submitted to the government’s scientific advisers show.

The finding, from research covering almost 24,000 patients admitted to hospital, came from a tranche of study papers released yesterday by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, used to inform the government’s decision-making processes. However, the researchers behind the findings cautioned that they were preliminary results, and it was possible they would change when more data came in.

The documents also show that among younger people obesity raises the death rate fourfold, and for those in their fifties it more than doubles it.