Data on health workers who were severely affected by COVID-19 have been released; 63% of the dead were foreigners

The British Medical Association has published details of foreign health workers who have been adversely affected by COVID-19.

Data on the ethnicity and birthplace of health workers who has been tested positive and who have died from COVID-19 have been published.

Data reveal that BAME health workers are the most affected by COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.

Sixty-three percent of health workers who died from COVID are from this background. According to the British Medical Association, 21% of NHS employees are from BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic). But there were no data available for such a comparative study during COVID’s first expansion in Ireland.

But the latest data show that from September 8 to 21, 24% of the health workers confirmed by COVID-19 were non-white. During this period, 222 health workers have been confirmed for the virus.

The HSE spokesperson said that the data collected by HPSC and HSE as of June was part of the weekly COVID-19 report. Such a data collection was based on the report that virus had caused the most distress to BAME health workers.

About half of the health workers registered here last year were from outside the European Union, said INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha.

There is growing evidence that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected certain ethnic groups in the UK, US and Australia.

As more information becomes available you can see where the problems are. With this and other data collected, it will be possible to improve security for frontline staff, the general secretary said.