Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister for Equalities of 13 January 2021, Official Report, column 276, where in her first report on the disproportionate impact of covid-19 on ethnic minority groups published in October 2020 it concludes that there is no evidence suggesting that ethnicity itself is a risk factor.

My first report to the Prime Minister and Health Secretary of 22 October summarised the current evidence which shows that a range of socioeconomic and geographical factors such as occupational exposure, population density and household composition, coupled with pre-existing health conditions, contribute to the higher infection and mortality rates for ethnic minority groups. This is stated in the executive summary of my report and in paragraph 20.

As also stated in my report, a small part of the excess risk remains unexplained for some groups, although there is no evidence thus far suggesting that ethnicity on its own is a risk factor. The Race Disparity Unit has been conducting further analysis of risk factors, which I will summarise in my second quarterly report in the coming weeks.