Coronavirus: Deaths of South Asian Scots more likely to involve Covid

Deaths among the South Asian ethnic group in Scotland were almost twice as likely to involve Covid-19 as those of white people, analysis suggests.

There was not sufficient evidence to say the same of other ethnic groups.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) reached its conclusion after accounting for age, sex, deprivation and whether they lived in urban or rural areas.

An earlier study found no correlation between ethnicity and death rates from Covid-19 in Scotland.

But the latest NRS report cross-referenced death records with the 2011 census data and was more "comprehensive" than the previous study.

The South Asian ethnic group includes people of Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish or Bangladeshi British, Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British, Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British ethnicity.

The data shows that 34 people with this background had their deaths registered as Covid-related between 12 March and 14 June. This was from a total of 104 deaths from all causes in that group.

By comparison, 3,606 people classed a White Scottish died with Covid from a total of 16,326 deaths from all causes.

The report's analysis presents the results as odds ratios.

It shows that the odds ratio that the death of a person from a South Asian background involved the virus was 1.9 higher than a white person.

NRS said it did not have sufficient evidence to say deaths among people in the Chinese ethnic group were more likely to involve Covid-19.

As of 5 July, the overall coronavirus death toll for Scotland stands at 4,173 - with 17 more deaths recorded in the week to Sunday, which was 18 down on the previous week.

The NRS report said: "The results show that over the course of the pandemic to date, Covid-19 was a relatively more common cause of death for people in the South Asian ethnic group compared to people in the white ethnic group.

"It is important to note that this analysis does not say that relatively more people across Scotland in the South Asian ethnic group have died from Covid-19, but rather that if a person in the South Asian ethnic group died during the pandemic, it is more likely to be Covid-19 related than is the case for those in the white ethnic group."