To investigate links between COVID-19 and ethnicity

UCL academics will play key roles in three new nationally funded research studies, which aim to improve our understanding of the links between COVID-19 and ethnicity. In total, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), are providing £4.3m in funding for six projects, which seek to explain and mitigate the disproportionate death rate from COVID-19 among people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, including BAME health and social care workers. Emerging evidence* shows that, after taking account of age and other sociodemographic factors, BAME people are nearly twice as likely to die of COVID-19 than white people. There is an urgent need for more detailed data on why COVID-19 disproportionately impacts people from BAME backgrounds, building the essential evidence base needed to make recommendations to decision makers and protect the health of these groups. UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive, Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, said: "It is now abundantly clear that COVID-19 disproportionately affects people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Urgent action must be taken to determine and address the factors underlying this disparity. There is unlikely to be a simple answer and we must consider all possibilities, reflected in the range of projects we have funded, so that we can save as many lives as possible during this pandemic and any future outbreaks." UCL academics are involved in the following studies: Dr Robert Aldridge (UCL Institute of Health Informatics) will lead a £1.4m funded study to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on minority ethnic and migrant groups and how to tackle it in community settings.