New focus on impact of Covid-19 on Scotland's ethnic minorities

The impact of coronavirus on Scotland’s ethnic minority communities is to be scrutinised by a new expert group, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

Anas Sarwar has pressed the government to do more to help BME communities deal with coronavirus.

The First Minister said the reference panel would consider all evidence on how black and other ethnic minority groups are being hit by Covid-19, but that preliminary analysis of data by Public Health Scotland (PHS) “doesn’t appear to show that people from ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected”.

The Scottish data appears to directly contradict that produced by Public Health England which showed that people of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, Caribbean and other black ethnicities had between a 10% and 50% higher risk of death when compared to the white population in the UK.

However at the daily coronavirus briefing Ms Sturgeon admitted that PHS findings were based on “limited data” from which they had been “unable to draw any conclusions”, and that other studies in the UK and around the world “provided different results.”

As a result, she said, the government was “establishing an expert reference group to consider the evidence of Covid-19, including data by NHS Scotland, National Records of Scotland and Public Health Scotland to assess the impact on Scotland’s ethnic minorities.

“We also recognise that people from ethnic minorities could also be disproportionately affected by the economic and social impacts of Covid-19 as well as the health aspects. It’s essential to listen to them, work with them, and ensure the policies we adopt and implement don’t have disproportionate and adverse consequences. It’s especially important at this time, to take full account of the needs and experiences of our ethnic minority communities.”

Ms Sturgeon said she was unable to give any timescale or details for the further analysis PHS would be doing, but added: “We are very mindful that while the preliminary analysis based on limited dated said that there didn’t appear to be a disproportionate impact, that is not in-keeping with findings from other parts of the UK so it’s important we do further analysis.”

After the briefing, Angela Leitch, chief executive of PHS said: “Understanding whether minority ethnic communities are at greater risk from Covid-19 is a crucial part of our response to the virus, particularly in light of reports from other parts of the UK and across the world.

“Public Health Scotland is undertaking work to review the available evidence understand emerging patterns including comparisons between the situation in Scotland and other parts of the UK. We are also working with National Records of Scotland and the Scottish Government to analyse and report on the impact of Covid-19 by ethnicity.

“Working with other members of the expert group, our evidence and data will enable the development of an effective evidence-based response and ensure the health of all of Scotland’s communities is protected.”

Reacting to the announcement of the group, Scottish Labour MSP Anas Sarwar who has been pressing for more data on the coronavirus impact on ethnic communities, said it needed to “act swiftly”.

“Research carried out in England has caused anxiety for Scotland’s ethnic minority communities, so this announcement is a welcome step,” he said. “While we do have different demographics compared to England, we still don’t have adequate data to understand the impact here.

“We should be looking at how we reassure and protect Scotland’s ethnic minority communities, particularly given the lifesaving work so many are doing on the frontline. It has taken a lot of time to get to this point, so I hope this expert group now acts swiftly and any recommendations are implemented without delay.”

Scottish Greens Co-Leader Patrick Harvie, also welcomed the announcement, and “commended” the STUC’s Black Workers’ Committee for “drawing attention to the importance of adequately assessing the impact of Covid19 on Scotland’s BAME communities.”

But he added: “I am concerned that it seems only limited analysis has been undertaken to date and I urge the Scottish Government to ensure that the group has all the resources it needs to undertake the analysis required as quickly as possible.”The Scottish Government said it had also provided more than £500,000 to organisations working specifically with minority ethnic communities across Scotland during the pandemic, with 27 being offered £354,000 from the Wellbeing Fund and a further 14 grassroots bodies receiving £189,000 from the Immediate Priorities Fund.

Equalities Minister Christina McKelvie said the government had also acted to protect minority ethnic staff working in health and social care, with new guidance for employers published on May 21, providing vital information about risk assessments and psychological support.

She added: “People will be anxious about protecting themselves and their families. I want to reassure them that we are taking this issue extremely seriously.

“We are working to better understand the data on how the pandemic is impacting on our minority ethnic communities in Scotland so we can take the appropriate action and this new group will use their expertise to challenge, inform and shape future work.

“Equality and human rights issues such as this are at the heart of our policy response to the impacts of COVID-19, and in particular in our recovery and renewal work. This is part of our wider work to advance race equality, backed by over £2.6 million in the last year.”

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