SOUTH Asian people are the most likely to die from coronavirus after being admitted to hospital, grim new analysis has found.

The study of more than 30,000 Covid-19 patients – led by a Scottish University – suggests people from South Asian backgrounds are 20% more likely to die than white people. However, those who are black appeared no more likely to die, and other ethnic minorities had no higher risk compared with white people.

Details of the research were only made available yesterday, though the results were passed onto the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) more than a month ago.

The study revealed that out of every 1000 white people needing hospital treatment for Covid-19, 290 die. But out of every 1000 South Asian people needing hospital treatment for Covid-19, 350 die.

Professor Ewen Harrison, from the University of Edinburgh, who led the study, said the increased risk of death was not due to obesity, which is linked to many cases of Type 2 diabetes. “South Asian people, in fact, on average, have a lower weight compared with the white group,” he said.

He said that, of the increased risk of death between South Asians and whites, a fifth may be explained by diabetes. Harrison said: “What our study is asking is, once you’re in hospital, are you more at risk if you’re in a particular ethnic group?

“There may be many more black people in hospital as a proportion of the population, and therefore many more may be dying [as a proportion of the overall population].

“But once they get to hospital, we don’t see a strong signal that they [black people] have a worse outcome, and you didn’t find that for other ethnic minorities either.”

He said there may be a biological effect for South Asian risk, “meaning there may be something in your genes which makes you more likely to either get the disease, to get a severe form or to die from the disease”, though this needs further exploration.

He said the paper has policy implications around workplace risk assessment, easing of lockdown and the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline workers.

It may also change who is eligible for any vaccine that is developed in the fight against Covid-19.

The South Asian group in the paper included people with Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage but not those from East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Ethnic minorities were younger and more likely to have diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2) but had fewer other underlying health conditions such as chronic heart disease or dementia than people who were white.

People who were South Asian were 28% more likely to be admitted to critical care, as were those who were black (36% increased risk), compared with those who were white, the study found.

This held true even when age, sex and place of admission were taken into account, and the impact of deprivation.

Professor Calum Semple, from the University of Liverpool, who also worked on the study, said he believed people from South Asia had an increased exposure risk to Covid-19 via their jobs, such as working in health and social care.