British Bangladeshi people are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than their white counterparts, according to the findings from Public Health England.

The report states: “An analysis of survival among confirmed COVID-19 cases and using more detailed ethnic groups, shows that after accounting for the effect of sex, age, deprivation and region, people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death than people of White British ethnicity.

“People of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Other Asian, Caribbean and Other Black ethnicity had between 10 and 50% higher risk of death when compared to White British.”

The government released its report into how people from Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority (BAME) were being impacted disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, after criticism regarding delays in its publication.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock made an announcement in Parliament today on the findings.

Hancock said: “I want to update the house on the work we are doing to understand the unequal and disproportionate way that this disease targets people.

“People are understandably angry about injustices and as health secretary I feel a deep responsibility because this pandemic has exposed huge disparities in the health of our nation.

“It is very clear that some people are significantly more vulnerable to Covid-19 and this is something I am determined to understand and take action to address.”

However, Public Health England (PHE) was keen to stress that the findings did not account for the effect of occupation, existing conditions (comorbidities) or obesity.

“These are important factors because they are associated with the risk of acquiring Covid-19, the risk of dying, or both,” the report said.

“Other evidence has shown that when comorbidities are included, the difference in risk of death among hospitalised patients is greatly reduced.”

PHE also states in the report that unless the inequalities facing the most vulnerable groups in society are addressed, “it seems likely that it will be difficult to control the spread of COVID-19.”

The report states: “As the numbers of new COVID-19 cases decrease, monitoring the infection among those most at risk will become increasingly important.

“It seems likely that it will be difficult to control the spread of COVID-19 unless these inequalities can be addressed.”