Expert group created to assess impact of Covid-19 on Scotland's ethnic minorities

The Scottish Government has established an expert group to assess the impact of Covid-19 on the country’s ethnic minorities.

Made up of academics and advisers, the new group will look at evidence of the virus in Scotland to determine areas where it is having a disproportionate effect on minority ethnic communities.

It will then suggest approaches to mitigate that and make recommendations on policy.

The announcement comes after a Public Health Scotland analysis undertaken at the end of May did not appear to show that people from ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by the virus in terms of health.

However, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said these were “preliminary findings” based on “limited data” and studies in other parts of the UK, and around the world, have provided different results.

A Public Health England inquiry published last week showed black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (BAME) were up to twice as likely as white Britons to die from Covid-19.

Ms Sturgeon added that people from ethnic minorities could also be disproportionately affected by the economic and social impacts of the virus, as well as by the health impacts.

She said the Scottish Government has already allocated more than half a million pounds to organisations which work directly with BAME groups across Scotland, but acknowledged “we may well need to do more”.

The First Minister said: “For that reason I’m establishing a new expert reference group made up of academics and other advisers. That group will consider the evidence of Covid-19 in Scotland, including the data provided by NHS Scotland, National Records of Scotland, and Public Health Scotland to assess the impacts of the virus on minority ethnic communities. In areas where Covid is having a disproportionate effect, they will also make recommendations on policy and approaches to mitigate that.

“It’s always essential at any time to listen to people from our ethnic minority communities, to work with them, and to ensure the policies we adopt and implement don’t have disproportionate and adverse consequences.

“It is, however, especially important at this time, and I hope this expert reference group will ensure our response to Covid-19 takes full account of the needs and experiences of our minority ethnic communities.”