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Blacks in Britain are four times as likely to die of coronavirus as whites, data show

By
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May 7, 2020 at 12:33 p.m. EDT
The market stalls on Electric Avenue in Brixton, one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in London, on April 23, 2020. The British capital, where ethnic minorities make up more than 40 percent of the population, has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus outbreak. (Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images)

LONDON — Coronavirus is no great equalizer, and new data out of Britain underscore how certain ethnic groups are more at risk: Blacks are four times as likely to die of covid-19 as whites, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This, however, is not a surprise to many in these communities, whose members are more vulnerable to the virus because of their health and economic disadvantages, and perhaps other reasons yet to be isolated.