Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what studies are being undertaken on the effect of covid on BME communities; and if he will make a statement.

Investment of £4.3 million has been made in new research projects into the impact of COVID-19 among people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, including health and social care workers.

The projects will explore the impact of the virus specifically on migrant and refugee groups; working with key voices within BAME communities to create targeted, digital health messages; the introduction of a new framework to ensure the representation of people from BAME backgrounds in clinical trials testing new treatments and vaccines for COVID-19; and the creation of one the United Kingdom’s largest COVID-19 cohorts.