Covid case numbers have been rising rapidly across the UK and the government has therefore introduced another lockdown in order to control the spread of the virus. As we make our way into a second national lockdown it is important to address the impact of this on making inequalities even more pervasive. Immediate action is necessary to better protect communities.
As noted in our initial statement on the racial divide of covid-19, the pandemic has brought to the fore many of societies social ills, particularly the ever-increasing class divisions – divisions which continue to run along racial lines. According to a recent report by two leading think tanks – the Institute for Public Policy Research and Runnymede Trust – 58,000 more deaths involving coronavirus could have occurred in England and Wales if white communities faced the same risks as black communities. These are related to issues such as income inequality and overcrowded housing which can ultimately be traced to racism, not by any one individual but those embedded in our structures and institutions through the legacies of colonialism and slavery.
In response to the public outcry about the disproportionate number of deaths among the BAME communities – particularly NHS staff – the government commissioned a review, Disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19, published by Public Health England (PHE) in June of this year into disparities in Covid -19 outcomes among ethnic groups. However, the investigation focused on factors such as gender and obesity which, while we do not dispute its importance, did not adequately address the disproportionate impacts of the crisis on BAME people, nor make any recommendations.
It is now widely researched however that the immediate health effect of the coronavirus has disproportionately impacted African and Asian heritage communities, a fact inextricably linked to poverty. As Dr Omar Khan in the foreword to the report, The Colour of Money, notes, “the Covid-19 crisis has thrown into sharper focus the way racial and other inequalities blight people’s lives from cradle to grave”. The Runnymede Trust report showed that Black African and Bangladeshi households have 10 times less wealth than White British households. This wealth gap will almost certainly only increase due to the implications of Covid-19.
There is a variety of explanations for this but unequal access to the housing market is one highlighted in the report. As a key social determinant of health, the report points to issues around housing, particularly problems around isolation and overcrowding. They note that BAME households may find it harder to isolate with 24% of Bangladeshi and 15% of Black African households live in overcrowded housing compared to 2% of white households. According to the Government’s Race Disparity Audit, while BAME people in the South West are four times as likely to be living in overcrowded housing, white people across all income bands are twice as likely to be under-occupying, i.e. have at least 2 more bedrooms than needed. In Bristol, Black people make up 24% of homeless households despite only making up 6% of the total population.
Equally important to health and housing is employment as illustrated by the charity, Shelter, who report that around 227,000 renters have fallen into arrears. With the eviction ban lifting, this could spell disaster for many. The most recent labour market overview (October 2020) reports that 1.52 million people are unemployed, 209,000 more than last year and 138,000 more than in the previous quarter. In the same period, redundancies have increased by a record 114,000 to 227,000 – the largest annual increase since 2009. Moreover, there were 629,000 fewer payroll employees in September than in March 2020 and the claimant count level for Universal Credit increased by 120% since March.
The number of people in the UK earning below the minimum wage has risen more than fivefold to 2 million since the start of the pandemic. With those in the lowest-paying jobs five times more likely to be furloughed with reduced pay, the Government’s furlough scheme is in question here. The ONS said more than half of jobs in the bottom 10th of earners in Britain were furloughed without a top-up in wages from their employer, compared with less than 10% in every other pay group – in a sign of the disproportionate hit to incomes for low-paid staff. This suggests firms used the 80% wage subsidy provided by the government’s flagship scheme for the lowest-paid staff, but were more likely to go above and beyond for higher-paid staff to top up and pay 100% of usual wages. As many as 39% in hospitality were in the same position, compared with as few as 3% in professional jobs, where firms paid more staff above the furlough minimum. This evidence that young people and low-paid workers in customer-facing roles suffered the most during the first lockdown is a worrying sign for the second wave and current lockdown.
In June 2020 BSWN published a study of the impact of Covid-19 on black-led businesses, organizations and communities in the Bristol area. 83% of voluntary and community organisations have stated they were currently unable to deliver services to their communities. 64% of social enterprises were also unable to deliver products and/or services. In the case of self-employed individuals, it needs to be taken into consideration that BAME individuals are overly represented in low-income self-employment, especially across sectors that have been directly hit by the social distancing rules such as taxi drivers, Uber drivers, and restaurant takeaways. While small local businesses lose their customer base, multi-national corporations such as Amazon continue to see their profits rise. The second lockdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for those in retail and hospitality when takings would normally rise in November and December – takings that sometimes see them through the entire year.
The inequalities that we saw at the beginning of the pandemic continue today with the parts of England with the highest transmission rates tending to have a higher than average population of BAME residents and yet, still no policies have been announced to protect the populations shown to be the most vulnerable to the pandemic. A significant amount of research has been carried out into the disproportionate impacts of the virus on BAME communities but this research has unfortunately not led to any real change in policy or practice on the ground. The discussion around the amplification of inequalities through the virus and the lockdown has been happening for around 8 months and yet still we find ourselves without any tailored response to prevent the virus and the impacts of the lockdown from running unchecked through BAME communities.
There are particular anxieties for BAME communities in facing this 2nd Lockdown with regards to employment, health and economic issues. As the IPPR and Runnymede Trust’s report, Ethnic inequalities in Covid-19 are playing out again – how can we stop them? indicates, underlying diseases such as cancer and heart disease do not explain the disproportionate deaths found in BAME communities but rather only one part of what is a much larger disparity in risk. This has often been linked to genetics but race and ethnicity are determinants of Covid outcomes due to societal, not genetic, factors. Race and ethnicity are concepts defined by society, not genes. They note,
“Since the wide genetic diversity within ethnic groups means genetics cannot explain why every minority group has a higher risk of death from Covid-19, the main factors are most likely to be unequal social conditions (such as occupation and housing), unequal access to healthcare, and the structural and institutional racism that underpins them”.
Housing, health and employment are all factors discussed in the report as minority ethnic communities have suffered disproportionately from public health budget cuts in recent years, with the 10 most ethnically diverse local authorities suffering £15 million more in public health budget cuts compared to the 10 least ethnically diverse local authorities since 2014/15. This disparity continues through to the response to Covid. The authors’ note that with regards to test and trace, there is a huge disparity in funding with central NHS Test and Trace receiving £10 billion while local authorities received only £300 million. Harder to reach communities will need ‘local outbreak control teams […] to collaborate with community organisations to contact trace effectively accounting for differences in culture and language’.
In New Zealand, a total of 25 died from Covid and less than 2000 were infected. By mid-May New Zealand began to loosen lockdown restrictions and apart from the borders remaining closed, the country has largely returned to normal. Research found that citizens had a high level of knowledge about coronavirus and how it spread. They found that about nine in ten New Zealanders knew about the symptoms, protective behaviours, and about the asymptomatic transmission. A large majority of New Zealanders correctly identified false or misleading statements. This stands in stark contrast to a report by Runnymede Trust earlier this year which found ethnic minority communities were 18% less likely to be aware of the government’s stay at home orders.
BAME communities are overrepresented in many vulnerable groups often with no recourse to public funds, and so addressing structural inequalities is essential to fighting the pandemic. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the first lockdown. According to the Runnymede Index of Ethnic Inequality, Bristol ranks 7th out of 348 areas in terms of most deprived areas. It is crucial then that we make data driven policy recommendations to ensure an equitable recovery from the current crisis but the absence of BAME-specific data in many areas, specifically health, is troubling. Policy and practice cannot be based on evidence if the evidence is lacking. Without the data, planning and decision-making will continue to be exclusionary. There is currently no performance management and quality assurance of contracts of social care services through a BAME lens meaning that service delivery and impact are not benchmarked against non-BAME communities, nor do we know how resources are allocated to BAME heritage communities. Data on local BAME population needs is not routinely collected and there is no systematic process which involves BAME citizens in the commissioning or purchasing of health and social care services. This means that it is currently not possible to bring together data on the outcomes of services to BAME citizens or indeed on the appropriateness of some services for certain groups.
BSWN therefore supports the recommendations made in the IPPR and Runnymede Trust report which address both issues of ethos & approach, alongside practical interventions. Published in October, the report sets out a number of policies that need to be implemented to protect BAME populations from the 2nd wave and during the current lockdown and which call on the government to set out a comprehensive strategy to mitigate ethnic inequalities this winter. These recommendations include:
1. Protect minority ethnic communities from Covid-19 by delivering an emergency health protection funding package to all local authorities this winter; include ethnicity as a risk factor in any triaged testing system; offer temporary accommodation to people who need to isolate but cannot due to living conditions; ensure that isolation pay support is available to all including those with no recourse to public funds.
2. Increasing access to treatment by immediately stopping to charge patients to use the NHS during the crisis; send a clear and targeted message encouraging vulnerable populations to seek timely healthcare.
BSWN will continue to provide support to local communities in Bristol. For further information or resources please visit our Covid-19 Support Page which provides resources and information for communities and organisations, funding and emergency grants, businesses and enterprises, as well as webinars and online training.
The following outlines the ten key lockdown orders which will be in place from Thursday 5th November until Wednesday 2nd December (further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november)
Stay at home except for specific purposes (childcare, education, work if this can’t be done from home, exercise, medical reasons, shopping for basic necessities)
Social distancing – “hands, face, space”
No meeting of family/friends indoors (that you do not live with)
Close all non-essential businesses (indoor/outdoor leisure facilities, non-essential retail, entertainment venues, personal care facilities)
Non-essential retail can remain open for delivery to customers and click-and-collect.
Hospitality venues like restaurants, bars and pubs can still provide takeaway and delivery services. However, takeaway of alcohol will not be allowed.
Jobcentre Plus sites, Courts and Civil Registration Offices will remain open
Places of Worship will be closed except for funerals, broadcasting acts of worship, individual prayer, formal childcare, essential voluntary and public services or for some exempt activities. Funerals can be attended by a maximum of 30 people and linked ceremonial events such as scattering of ashes can include up to 15 people. Weddings and civil ceremonies are not permitted.
Schools, colleges and universities are to remain open. Those who live at university should not move between their student home and permanent home during term time. Students should only return home at the end of the term for Christmas.
Parents are able to form a childcare bubble with another household for the purposes of informal childcare, where the child is 13 or under. Youth clubs/groups will need to cease but some services such as 1-1 work may continue.
For those planning to travel into England, you will need to check the current travel corridor list to see whether you need to isolate for 14 days.
Workers can retain their job even if their employer cannot afford to pay them and be paid at least 80% of their salary up to £2500 (this applies to employers small or large, charitable or non-profit. Employers will be asked to pay the National insurance and pension contributions of their staff during the month of November.
The job support scheme will not be introduced until after coronavirus job retention scheme ends.