Early data of the Covid-19 crisis, broken down by race, is alarming. In the US, in Chicago, as of early April 2020, 72% of people who died of coronavirus were black, although only one-third of the city’s population is. In Georgia, as of 17 April, white people accounted for 40% of Covid-19 cases where race was reported, although they represent 58% of the state. In the UK, of the first 2,249 patients with confirmed Covid-19, 35% were non-white. This is much higher than the proportion of non-white people in England and Wales – 14%, according to the most recent census.
Study shows that the desease is related to occupational factors. Around the world, certain racial and ethnic groups are disproportionately represented in at-risk professions. For instance, 26.4% of Transport for London staff are from BAME groups (vs. the 14% for all of England and Wales). People of colour are also substantially more likely to be unemployed, underemployed or precariously employed, which makes them especially likely to undertake hazardous temporary or gig economy work like delivering food.
In the US, farmworkers are often undocumented migrants from Latin America with little control over safe working conditions. It can be difficult to ensure physical distancing in the fields, isolation in the farmworker camps, or proximity to medical facilities. Farmworkers in the US have high rates of diabetes and pesticide exposure, stressing their immune systems and thus making them more vulnerable to infectious diseases. Wael Elamin, a medical microbiologist at King’s College Hospital in Dubai, points out that migrant workers also face overcrowded living conditions in a number of Middle Eastern countries that depend on their labour.

In general, undocumented people are especially unlikely to seek formal medical care out of fear of being reported to law enforcement. This influenced Portugal’s decision to grant temporary residency rights to asylum seekers and other migrants whose residency applications were pending: minimising that fear would help public health. It’s still too early to know whether this decision has paid off, but public health agencies have praised the move.