Britons with disabilities are at a significantly higher risk of dying from Covid. That appears from figures from the US, the UK’s statistical office.
In 2020, almost 51,000 residents died after they became infected with the corona virus. Almost 60 percent of them (30,296) had a disability.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) uses a very broad definition of the term ‘disabled’. This group includes British people who are “slightly affected” by a disability. People with learning difficulties, such as reading blindness and weak talent, also fall into this category. According to this definition, one in six Britons is classified as disabled. Half of them have a severe disability.
Especially women with severe disabilities are victims
This does not alter the fact that Britons with both a mild and severe disability have been hit hard by the pandemic. Women with a severe disability are 3.5 times more likely to die from Covid than men without disabilities. Women with a mild disability are twice as likely. In men with a severe and mild disability, the risk factor is 3.1 and 1.9, respectively.
A previous research from Public Health England reached similar conclusions in November. Charities working for the disabled are therefore sounding the alarm. “Disabled people have largely been forgotten. They do not receive enough support and information,” said Richard Cramer of the Sense Foundation in an interview with the BBC.
“The government must act now. It must prioritize the needs of the disabled and their families. The government must show that it has learned from the mistakes of the past year.”
Poorer parts hit twice as hard
At an early stage of the pandemic, it was clear that elderly people in particular were at greatest risk of dying from covid. But since then there have been lots of studies published showing that the less fortunate and other vulnerable groups have been disproportionately hit.
In the wealthiest parts of the United Kingdom, 63 out of every 100,000 people died from covid. In the poorest parts, the death rate was more than twice as high: 140 in 100,000.
A combination of factors contribute to this. Poorer Britons have less access to high quality healthcare. They suffer more than average from chronic conditions such as asthma and obesity, which increase the risk of death.
In addition, many poorer Britons work in occupations that cannot be done from home, such as supermarket workers, bus drivers and nurses. They are therefore at greater risk of contracting the virus.
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